Characters which were kept in the most secret places of the Temples of Aegypt Thus far Manetho To examine whether this second Mercury be different from Cicero's or not is not to our present purpose Iamblichus says also (c) De Myster Aegypt lib. 1. That there were Columns in Aegypt fill'd with Writings containing the Doctrines of Mercury The same Author remarks elsewhere That Pythagoras and Plato receiv'd abundance of light from what they read in Aegypt upon the Pillars of Mercury (a) Plato in Timao Critia Galen contra Jalian lib. 1. PLATO himself in two places speaks of Pillars upon which the Aegyptians and other ancient People writ their Laws the History of their Times and the most remarkable things invented by ' em What we shall say in the following Article of the Pillar of Isis will be a confirmation Whether all that has been related of these Columns and the Extracts made from 'em so much boasted of by the Aegyptian Priests were true or nor the Fame of em suffic'd to bring forth aburdance of Writings or Books which passâ—d for Copies of these Extracts and were taken for the legitimate Works of MERCVRY Iamblichus reckons (b) Thâ— the Books of the Ancients were very short yet the number here is manifestly very much amplified Some have reduc'd these Books to so many lines or short paragraphs 6525 of these Books Of some of these there remains no more than the Title others have been preserv'd entire There are yet some Manuscripts to be found in curious Libraries which treat of Chymistry of which we shall have occasion to take further notice as likewise of the famous Table of Emerauld of Hermes in the Second Part of this History in which we shall prove That if HERMES were the Inventor of Chymistry 't was not of Medical Chymistry Among the Books of Mercury of which the Ancients make mention and which relate to Physick there were some already suspected even in the time of Galen (c) De simplic Medicam facult lib. 6. in principio Such was that which he says was attributed to the Aegyptian Mercury which contain'd the Thirty six Herbs of the Horoscopes These he says were meer trifles only that amus'd the Reader to the loss of his time We have spoken before of the Hicrogliphical Books of MERCVRY which the Aegyptians kept with so much care in their Temples It was undoubtedly one of these Books which Diodorus calls in the singular number the sacred-Sacred-Book without naming the Author by which all the Physicians of Aegypt were oblig'd to regulate their practice So that observing the precepts of that Book they were justified tho' the Patient died but if they deviated from 'em never so little his death was imputed to 'em and they punishâ—d as Murtherers Clemens Alexandrinus goes farther (a) Stromat lib. 6. There are says he which are most considerable two and forty Books of HERMES thirty six of which contain the Aegyptian Philosophy which they oblig'd their SACRIFICERS or PRIESTS and PROPHETS to read The other six they caus'd their (b) A sort of Priests so callâ—d from their wearing lâ—ng Clâ—aks or because they carried upon certain occasiâ—ns the Bâ—d of Venus These Pastophori were thâ—â—â— that practis'd Physick in Aegypt PASTOPHORI to learn as belonging to Physick The first of these continues he treats of the STRUCTURE of the Body the second of DISEASES the third of the INSTRUMENTS requird the fourth of MEDICAMENTS the fifth of the DISEASES of the EYES the sixth of WOMENS DISEASES If these Books were really MERCVRYâ—s we can't deny him to have reducâ—d Physick to in Art He began with the Structure of the Body or Anatomy supposing it most natural to begin with the knowledge of the subject upon which we are to be employ'd After this he describ'd the maladies or changes which â—â—sal this Body The third and fourth Books 〈◊〉 of the Instruments and Medicaments neâ—â—â—sary for cure that is of Surgery and Pharmacy After these he proceeded to the Eye in particular whose diseases are very numerous â—â—d require a peculiar care Hence he treats â—â—trately of those Distempers of Women that are distinct from those of Men and require a different cure Nothing cou'd be more exact (c) See Conringius de Medicin Herm cap 3. but there is great reason to suspect that these Books were written many Ages after HERMES at a time when Physick had made great advances â—nd there is no doubt to be made but that the Aegyptian Priests fatherâ—d upon their HERMES some spurious piece of their own or of 〈◊〉 able Physician If the matter did not speak for it self the aforecited Iamblichus starts the suspicion by telling us That the Aegyptian Writers being perswaded that Mercury was the Inventor of all things usually gave him the honour of their own Productions or did themselves the grace to put his Name to their Books At this time no track or foot-step remaining of those Books of which Clemens Alexandrinus makes mention we know no more of the pretended Physick of HERMES than the generals already given If some other Books ascribâ—d to him which have remain'd to our days were genuine we might clearly from them infer that the Physick of HERMES was in great measure grounded on Astrology and Magick (a) See the passage corrected by Selden de diis Syris syntagm 1. Ita humanitas semper memor humanae naturae originis suae in illâ divinitatis imitatione perseverat ut sicut pater ac dominus ut sui similes esseut Deos secit aeternos ita humanitas Deos sâ—os ex sui vultus similitudine sig raret Asclep Statuas dicis ô Trismegiste Trismegist statuas ô Asclepividesue qa tenus tu ipse diffidas Statuas aâ—imatas sensu Spiritu pleâ—â—s â—â—â—taque facientes talia Statuas futurorum praeâ—â—â—as ea quae â—orâ—è omnis vates ignoret in multis varâ—is praedicentes imbeciâ—l tates hominibus facientes easque curantes tristitiam laetâ—tiamque promâ—ritis c. There is a passage which justifies our assertion in the Book call'd Asclepius which was anciently taken for one of HERMES's of which the Latin Version now extant among us is imputed to Apuleius This passage mentions certain Statues that gave and cur'd Diseases and told things to come and did divers other prodigious things The Book of the thirty six sacred Herbs of the Horosâ—â—pes cited by Galen as before however supposititious is at least a proof that it was the common opinion that MERCVRY did not confine himself to Physick otherwise they wou'd never have father'd such Books upon him The Title of this Book agrees very well with what Origen writes (b) Contra Cels lib. 8. That the Aegyptians say there are thirty six Damons or Gods of the Air which divide the Body of man among 'em into so many parts And adds That the Aegyptians had in their Language names for all these Daemons and that invoking any of 'em according to the part affected
go in our bodies after the same rate as they do in the world Urine is form'd in the bladder like rain in the second region of the air and as the rain proceeds from Vapours that arise from the earth and being condens'd produce clouds so urine is producâ—d from exhalations arising from the aliments that find their passage into the bladder Others relate that Heraclitus put this question to the Physicians whether it were possible to press the bowels of any one so as to get out all the water that was contain'd in them which the Physitians affirming to be impossible he expos'd himself naked to the Sun and afterwards manag'd himself in the Stable as is related above the consequence of which was that he was devour'd by Dogs as he lay in the dung being so weak that he was not able to help himself In short others have deliver'd this story otherwise and affirm that Heraclitus was cur'd of this swelling and dy'd long after this of another distemper The most remarkable opinion he held I mean that relates to Philosophy was this that Fire was the beginning of all things that every thing came from Fire and that every thing is done by Fire We shall have occasion hereafter to make some reflections upon this opinion He is reported to be the author of this Sentence (b) Vide Atâ—eâ—â—um that there were no such blockheads and fools in the world as Grammarians except Physicians Democritus was born in the 77th Olympiad He applied himself to Physick as he did to all other Sciences and was so desirous to become learn'd that he spent all his patrimony in travelling to see the most celebrated and famous men abroad He had been in Egypt Persia Babylon and the Indies where he convers'd with Philosophers Geometricians Physicians Priests Magicians and Gymnosophists Diogenes Laertius has given us the Titles of several Books written by Demceritus concerning Philosophy in general and Geometry He likewise compos'd some about Physick in particular the first is intitul'd Of the nature of man or of the Flesh which in all probability is the same that we find under the same title among the works of Hippocrates He writ another Treatise about Plagues which is cited by Aul ' Gellius under this title Of the plague and pestilential diseases A third treated of Prognostics a fourth of Diet or the method of regulating nourishment a fifth of the Causes of distempers and of things that were proper or contrary to the body by considering the time In some other Books he endeavour'd to find out the causes of Seeds of Trees of Fruits and of Animals There is in short another which is intituled (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seâ— the Chapter of Theophratius lib. 4. about the Stone that is to say according to the Chymists about the Philosophers Stone Some Greek Books that treat of Chymistry are still remaining which carry his name and are many-scripts in the Library of the Louvre But learn'd men look upon them to be spurious as we shall see more largely hereafter Pliny likewise cites in abundance of places Democritus â—s Books concerning Plants in which he seems to have principally considerâ—d their Magical or Supernatural Virtues Democritus says this Author who was more devoted to the Magicians than any one since Pythagoras relates more incredible and monstrous Stories than even he did The Reader may consult the 17th Chapter of the 24th Book of Pliny to see more of this Among other things we may find there a remedy or composition to have sine Children This composition is made of Pine-apples bruisâ—d with honey myrrh saffron and palm-tree wine adding to this a drug or simple call'd by him Theombrotion and milk According to this Authorâ—s direction a man must drink of this immediately before he goes to his Wife and she likewise must drink of it as soon as she is derivered and all the while she suckles her Child Pliny speaks in the same place of an herb which Democritus call'd by a Greek name that signifies (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bashful and contracts its leaves when a man touches it Throphrastus likewise makes mention of this plant which is the same with what we now call the sensitive plant which is very well well known If there was no more superstition or Magick in the other places of Democritus than there is in this Pliny wrong'd him when he accusâ—d him of it But t is evident from what this Author adds that the Books of Democritus were full of these trifles and Tatian a Christian Rhetorician and disciple of Justin Martyr has likewise observ'd that Democritus writ nothing but fabulous stuff (c) Lib. 11. cap. 3. Columella cites two Books of Democritus one of which was intitul'd of Agriculture and the other of things that have an Antipathy to one another One may judge of the contents of this latter Book by the following citation Democritus says Columella affirms that Caterpillars and other insects that destroy the greens in gardens dâ—e immediately if a woman that has her menses walks two or three â—â—â—ns over the bods with her fâ—â—t baâ—â— and â—air disheveled But it must be observ'd that the same Columella (f) 〈…〉 elsewhere tells us that the Books that in his time were attributed to Democritus were written by one Dolus or Bolus Mendesius an Egyptian and who perhaps is the same with him whom (g) Lib â— c. 7. Galen calls Horus Mendesius (h) 〈…〉 Celius Aurelianus makes mention of two other Books that went under Democritus's name but he look'd upon them to be spurious One treated of Convulsive diseases and the other of the Elephantiasis In the former of these Books we meet with a remedy against madness which consisted in a decoction 〈◊〉 Origarum that was to be drunk out of a round â—up fashionâ—d like a Bowl In the second he advises to bleed those that are infected with an Elephantiasis and give them of a certain herb which he does not name We shall conceive a more advantageous Idea of Democritus by what remains to be told of him The same thing in a manner happen'd to this Philosopher which befel Heraclitus He retir'd like him to a solitary place that he might be more at liberty but there was this remarkable difference between them that whereas the former wept continually at the follies of mankind the other laught incessantly (i) See the Letters at the end of Hippocrates's works This strange behaviour made his Countrymen of Abdera take him for a fool so they sent to Hippocrates desiring him to come and cure him This Physician arriving there found him employâ—d in dissecting of Animals and enquiring the reason of it he told him 't was to discover the effect of folly which he lookt upon to be the cause of the bile By this Hippocrates discover'd that the world was exceedingly mistaken in their opinion of him and after a long conversation wherein among other things Democritus told
Artery and the other the Vena Cava At that time all the Blood Vessels were indifferently call'd Veins and the word Artery properly signify'd the (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aspera arteria or the Wind-pipe Nay Hippocrates gives the name of Veins to the Ureters and seems to bestow the same appellation upon the Nerves as we shall take notice below besides there are but few places where he formally distinguishes the Arteries from the Veins and where he calls them Arteries which may render the credit of those books or at least of those passages suspicious where this distinction is to be found The Artery adds he immediately after contains more heat than the Vena Cava and is the receptacle of the Spirits There are other Veins in the Body besides these two As for that which is reported to be the largest of all and next to the heart it runs thro the Belly and the Diaphragm and dividing itself into two streams visits either Kidney towards the Loins Above the heart this Vein divides to the right and to the left and ascending to the head distributes itself to either Temple We may continues he joyn the other Veins to this that are also very large but to speak all in a word all the Veins that are dispers'd thro the whole Body come from the Vena Cava and the Artery Here are already two opinions concerning the Origin of the Veins and Arteries There is a third likewise to be found in two several passages in Hippocrates whether in respect of the Origin of the Veins or in respect of your distribution (a) Lib. de Ossium naturâ de Natur. humanâ The largest veins of the Body are says he dispos'd after this manner There are in all four pair the first pair come out behind the head and descending down the back part of the neek on each side of the spine come to the Hips and Thighs pass on thro the Legs to the outside of each Foot For this reason in all pains of the Back and Hips bleeding in the veins of the Hams and external Ancles are of great relief the second pair coming likewise from the Head run behind the Ears down the Neck they are callâ—d the Jugulars and run within the Spine down the Loins where they divide on either side towards the Testicles and Thighs and the inside of the Hams from thence through the inward Ancles to the inside of the foot For this cause in all pains of the Testicles and Loins bleeding in the veins of the Hams and internal Ancles is very serviceable The third pair come out of the Temples and run along the Neck towards the Shoulders and Lungs from thence one turning from the right a little towards the left runs under the Breast to the Spleen and Kidneys the other likewise turning from the left to the right runs under the Breast to the Liver and Kidney And these two branches terminate in the Rectum The fourth part coming out of the fore part of the Head and Eyes run under the Lungs and the Clavicles and from thence thro the upper part of the Arm pass over the bending of the Elbow to the back of the Hands and Fingers and thence they return again thro the palm of the Hand on the inside of the Elbow and under the Arm to the Arm-pits and upon the surface of the side one to the Spleen and the other to the Liver At length both branches running over the Belly terminate in the privities To salve the contradiction between these two last passages it may be urg'd that the Book of the nature of the Bones from whence this latter is drawn is not Hippocrates's but Polybius his Son-in-Law's Neither Galen nor Erotian take notice of this Book among the works of Hippocrates They have not so much as taken notice of the name tho they seem to have explain'd certain words found in it There is a passage of (b) De Generat Anim. lib. 3. cap. 3. Aristotle wherein this Philosopher speaking of the Origin and destribution of the Veins and relating the several sentiments of the Physicians thereupon cites these very words of this Book of the nature of the Bones which we have translated and cites them as Polybius's This proof were sufficient but it removes not all the difficulty for we read the very same words in the Book of Human Nature which Galen maintains strongly to be Hippocrates's pretending to prove it by the Authority of (c) Platon Phaedr Plato who as he says has quoted a passage out of it tho others have ascrib'd this Book to Democritus Nevertheless Galen himself (d) De Hippocrat Platon decreâ— l. 6. c. 3. But Pelops Galen's Master was of another mind maintaining that Hippocrates held as himself also did that the Veins and Arteries as well as Nerves had their Origine from the Brain denies this later opinion touching the origin and destribution of the Veins to be Hippocrates's or even Polybius's but affirms that it must have been foysted surreptitiously into the Text. But this is not probable for we find the same opinion in the Book de locis in Homine There is another difficulty relating to the Book of the flesh or of the principles from whence was taken what we said in the first place that the Veins and Arteries came out of the Heart Aristotle in the afore-cited passage after having remarked that almost all the Physicians consented with Polybius to bring the veins from the Head concludes they were all in an error not knowing that they came from the Heart and not from the Head If Hippocrates be the Author of that Book of the Flesh wherein this opinion of Aristotle is plainly laid down how is it likely this Philosopher should not know it Why should he not as well have read the Writings of Hippocrates as those of Polybius From hence we may infer that this Book is no more Hippocrates's than that of the Nature of the Bones Perhaps Aristotle chose rather in this place to cite Polybius or Synnesis of Cyprus and Diogenes Apolloniates Physicians of small reputation in comparison of Hippocrates than to cite Hippocrates himself whose Name we sind but in (e) Politâ—c li. 7. cap. 4. one place of his Works and there mentioned only en passant perhaps I say he has omitted to quote him out of malice or envy Plato shew'd more honour having made honorable mention of him in several places Perhaps the Book in question was not Hippocrates's for neither do we find the Title of it in the List that Erotian gives of his Works Of the description of the HEART Amongst the Anatomical Books ascrib'd to Hippocrates there is none written with more exactness than that of the Heart which being very short we give you here the entire Translation of it The Heart says the Author of this Book is of a Pyramidal figure its colour is a deep red It is encompassed on all sides with a clos'd Membrane
for his whose names are not met with in Erotian â—s Catalogue Tâ—ese Books are that of Affections and other of internal Affections and two others of Diseases Besides those mentioned by Erotian Galen speaks also of an Addition to the Book call'd Mochlicus which is the Book we now have of the nature of the Bones He saw likewise the Title of the Book of the Glands which past for Hippocrates's though Galen thought it spurious He acknowledg'd likewise the Book entituled Tht Seven Months Birth the following which is of the Eighth Months Birth being but a part of the former Galen seems also to speak of several Books of Diet whereas Erotian quotes but one And although that he believed not that the prenotions of Cos were Hippocrates's 't is apparent that they pass'd commonly for such in his time and that the seventh Book of Epidemick diseases was likewise generally received tho Galen lookt upon 't as manifestly spurious Suidas the latest Greek Author speaks this of the books of Hippocrates at the end of the passage before cited The first says he of the books of Hippocrates contains the Oath the second his Predictions the third the Aphorisms a work above human capacity The fourth contains that admirable collection which goes by the name of Hexecontabiblos that is to say consisting of sixty Books which contain all the rest that relates to Physick and Philosophy We have yet remaining as many as Suidas reckons those whose Titles are found neither in Erotian nor that I know of in Galen are the following The Book of the Nature of a Woman of what relates to Virgins of the Seed of the flesh of Superfaetation of the time of Childrens breeding of teeth of the Heart of the Sight of the Eye of Anatomy of the manner of drawing dead Children out of the womb of the Physician of decent habit and of Precepts We find at the end of the Collection of Hippocrates's works certain pieces under the name of (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strange pieces These consist of Letters supposed to have been sent or received by Hippocrates or written upon his account of an Act of the Senate of the Athenians in his favour two discourses mentioned by Erotian by the name of the Speech of the Embassy or Deputation and of the Speech before the Altar of which the first is attributed to Thessalus the Son of Hippocrates the sccond to Hippocrates himself of his Life and Genealogy written by Soranus of a little book of Purgers and another of the manner of giving Hellebore We shall not trouble the Reader with all the Criticks have said concerning the distinction of the true Writings of Hippocrates from the counterfeit or supposititious We shall only take notice that several were already suspected in the time of Galen and Erotian himself amongst those which they give us the list of Some of these Books have been ascribed to the Sons of Hippocrates others to his Son-in-Law or to his Grandsons or to his Disciples or to his Predecessors as the book of Articulations and of Fractures which some have thought to have been writ by his Grandfather who was of the same name tho others have maintained that this first Hippocrates wrote nothing They have likewise ascrib'd them to other Physicians who lived either before or at the same time with him and to the Philosophers as Democritus who is suppos'd to be Author of the book of the nature of man Galen with abundance of reason imputes this fathering of Books and Titles so frequent among the Antients to the Covetousness of the first Copyers and he tells us that the considerable summs which the Kings Attalus and Ptolomy who vied who should have the finest Library gave to those that brought them the writings of great men gave occasion to this falsifying of Names and Authors and to the confusion we find in the disposition of antient works As we have said we shall not amuse ourselves with the judgment of the Criticks Those that have a mind may consult Mercurialis who has written particularly upon that subject It will be of use however to take notice that to those suppositions which we have spoken of must be attributed the contradictions found in some of the opinions of Hippocrates some being directly opposite to others In the second place we observe that (b) See the Chapter of the signs of Diseases these books of Hippocrates which are of the best reasoning are the most suspected We must further take notice that those pieces before call'd Strange which are annexed to the works of Hippocrates are most part of them and perhaps all of them spurious as we shall shew more particularly in the following Chapter As for the Style and Language of Hippocrates which is the third thing to be examin'd we must not wonder that Capito and Dioscorides did not always understand Hippocrates tho they were native Greeks Erotian who liv'd under Nero had composed a Glossary that is a Dictionary of the Obscure and Obsolete words us'd by him or â—at least of those which had not been of a long time in use in the Greek tongue By this Glossary which is yet extant we are informed that several Authors had employ'd themselves upon the same subject before him amongst which he names the following Xenocritus a Grammarian who he says was the first that wrote upon that subject Callimachus disciple of Herophilus Bacchius Philinus an Empirick Apollonius Cittiaeus Apollonius Ophis Dioscorides Phocas or rather Phacas Glaucius another Empirick Lysimachus of Cos Euphorion Aristarchus this was in all probability the famous Grammarian Aristocles Aristopeas Antigonus and Dydymus both of Alexandria the later also a Grammarian Epicles Lycus Neapolitanus Strato and Mnestheus To these we ought also to add Galen whose Glossary is yet remaining We have (c) See the Chapter of the Anatomy of Hippocrates at the beginning already observed that the Style of Hippocrates is very concise which makes it frequently difficult to understand him To this may be added that 't is otherwise very grave and Erotian observes (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Phrase of Hippocrates is the same with Homer â—s His language seems to be properly Ionique and Aelian pretends as we have seen (e) See Book the Chapter of Democritus before that Hippocrates us'd this Dialect in Favour of Democritus whereas being himself of Cos his Dialect should have been the Dorick But Galen observes (f) In lib. Hippocrat de fractur Comment 1. that the language of Hippocrates inclines somewhat towards the Attick and he adds that some have said that he writ in old Attick Be it how it will it appears that there was a considerable change in the Greek Tongue during the space of four hundred years which might have elapsed between Hippocrates and the first that wrote a Gloss upon him by the difficulty these Authors met with altho they were Greeks as well as himself to understand what he meant by such
The little difference there is between these two names and especially between the H and the 〈◊〉 which are the two first letters occasion'd of being put often one for the other and in the Manuscript copies of Hippocrates the former is sometime called Prodicus sometimes Herodicus (e) Comment lib. 6. Ep dem Galen following the first reading mentions two Physicians named Prodicus of which one was of Lentini the other of Selymbra but he does not determine of which he speaks in the place he comments upon referring the reader to another place where he says he has explainâ—d himself The first seems very probable to have been Hippocrates's master the other his scholar As for their names Plato and Plutarch always call'd the first Herodicus for the better distinction we may continue that name to him and call the latter Prodicus We have seen what Herodicus could do Prodicus composed several works which are cited by Galen but he seems to set no great value upon them He accuses him for not following the method of his master nor of the rest of the ancient Physicians but of amusing himself to quibble upon words or names which is never the sign of a man of ability in any profession whatsoever Galen gives an instance of this false niceness of Prodicus upon the word Phlegm which is a Greek word and which the Latins have render'd by that of Pituita All the ancient Physicians understood by it a cold thick humour but Prodicus only would have the Phlegm to be hot grounding upon the Etymologie of the word Phlegm which is derived from another Greek word which signifies (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. de Hippoc Platen decret lib. 8. cap. 6 de natural facul lib. 2. cap. 9. to burn giving the name of (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 snot to the first sorts of humour which as we have said before was otherwise call'd Pituita Dexippus or Dixippus another disciple of Hippocrates was a Coan as well as himself Suidas tells us that he wrote a book of Physick in general and two other of Prognosticks The same Author adds that Dexippus being sent for to Heccatomnus King of Caria to cure his sons Mausolus and Pixodarus who had each of them a desperate disease which he refusâ—d but upon condition that Heccatomnus should cease to make war upon the Carians whereupon Vossius observes (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Voss de Philosoph that we ought to read the Coans instead of the Carians it being more likely that Dexippus should endeavour to ease his own Countrey from a War to which we may add that it is not likely that the King made war upon his own subjects Aulus Gellius tells us that Dexippus or Dioxippus as he calls him was also for the (i) See the Anatomy of Hippocrates and the Paragraph of Philistion in the Chapter foregoing immediate passage of the drink into the lungs We know nothing of his method of practice except that both he and Appollonius who is the third of Hippocrates's scholars within our knowledge have both been censur'd for giving their Patients too much to eat and letting them perish with thirst Erasistratus said banteringly of them that they made twelve doses of the sixth part of a Cotyla of water which they put into so many little waxen cups and gave their Patients one or two at most in the heighth of a burning feaver The Cotyla was a measure that held about nine ounces Galen says that this was a piece of malice in Erasistratus who did it with a design thro' the scholars to scandalize the master We have nothing further concerning Appollonius Ctesias a Cnidian Physician came immediately after the former being cotemporary to Xenophon We are inform'd by (k) Lib. de Artic. comment 3. Galen that he was of the family of the Asclepiades and Kinsman to Hippocrates The same Galen takes notice that Ctesias corrected Hippocrates for teaching the way of reducing a dislocated Thigh-bone pretending that this reduction was to no purpose for the head of the bone being once out of its cavity it could never be kept in after what care soever were taken but that it would slip out again We know nothing more concerning Ctesias his Physick except that being taken prisoner in the battle wherein in Cyrus the younger was beaten by his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon he cured a wound which the latter had received in the fight After which he practis'd Physick seventeen years in Persia and became as famous a Historian as Physician by writing the History of Assyria and Persia taken from the Archives of those Countries CHAP. III. Opinions of Plato concerning Physick AT this time also Plato liv'd being born in the eighty eighth Olympiad This Philosopher following the steps of Pythagoras and Democritus and the other Philosopher Physicians of whom we have spoken wrote as they did of several things relating to the Theory of Medicine particularly of the Oeconomy of a humane body and the principles whereof it consists The Pythagoreans says (a) Var. Hist lib. 9. cap. 22 Elian applyed themselves very much to Physick Plato also was very much addicted to it as well as Aristotle and several other Philosophers We shall take notice here of what is most considerable upon that subject in the writings of Plato as far as we understand him which is not always very easie to do We shall be a little the more large herein because we meet with divers things which relate to several modern opinions and others which serve to iliustrate those of Hippocrates Plato having supposed two universal principles of all things (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and Matter the first form which he supposed Matter to take was Triangular and that from these Triangles the four sensible Elements were afterwards produced the Fire Air Water and Earth of which all bodies seem'd to him to be compounded As for the humane body he thought that its first formation commenc'd from the spinal marrow which marrow was afterward covered with a bone and these bones with flesh In consequence of this he held that the links which joyned or fastened the soul to the body were in that marrow which he call'd the seat of the mortal soul The reasonable soul he lodged in the brain which he said was a continuation of that marrow and look'd upon it as a soil purposely prepar'd to receive the divine seed As for that part of the soul upon which depend Generosity Valour and Anger he plac'd it near the head between the diaphragme and the neck that is to say in the breast or in the heart in which he followed Pythagoras He held that the lungs encompassed the heart to refresh it and to calm the violent motions of the soul which was lodged there as well by the refreshment which it received from the Air in respiration as from the liquor which we drink which he supposed to fall in part
the Membrane of the Ear be indisposed we cannot hear for the same reason we cannot see when the Tunicle of the Eye is in the same Condition (a) De generat aninial lib. 2. cap. 6. The Nose is divided into two Channels by a Cartilage It has two veins which are joined to the Brain but they come from the Heart these go into the Channel which is the Organ of smelling as it receives the External Air and all that is diffused thro it The Flesh as we have observed already is the Organ of Feeling The Tongue of Tasting being soft and spongy and of a Nature approaching to that of the Flesh (b) Hist An. lib. 1. cap. 11. The Eye reaches into the Brain and is situated on either side under a little vein (c) Ib. cap. 9. The humour which is in the Eye which causes vision is what we call the sight (d) De Gen. An. lib. 2. cap. 6. The Eye of all the Organs of sensation has this peculiarity that it is moist and cold or that it contains a humour that is moist and cold which is not there at first or which is not at first in its perfection but is separated or distill'd from the purest part of the moisture of the Brain by the Channel that goes to the Membrane of the Brain 'T is very plain from what has been said that Aristotle allow'd the Nerves no part in the production of sensation Nor indeed could he acknowledge the Nerves or their office retaining the Idea which he had of the Brain The Diaphragme which he calls Diazoma or the Membrane which separates the lower Belly from the Breast has according to Aristotle no other business than to divide these two Cavities that the upper which is the Seat of the Soul may not be infected by the vapours which rise from the lower This is the sum of what we could collect from the writings of this Philosopher concerning Anatomy And we may observe that both he and Plato call'd indifferently by the name of Veins the Veins properly so call'd and the Arteries that they did not give the name of Artery to any thing but the Wind-pipe which they call'd (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rough or unequal in opposition to the Arteries properly so called and by the Antients named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laeves Arterlae smooth Arteries Aspera Arteria from whence we may infer that when we find in (f) See the next Vol. lib. 1. cap. of Erasistratus Hippocrates the word Artery in the sense of the Moderns that this word has been foisted in or that the Books in which 't is found are not Genuine The only place that I know of wherein Aristotle seems to give the name of Arteries to the Arteries properly so called is in his Book of the Spirit wherein he says that the Skin is compos'd of a Vein an Artery and a Nerve Of a Vein says he because the Skin yields Blood when 't is prick'd Of a Nerve because it can extend it self Of an Artery because 't is transpirable Aristotle seems here to have designed the real and true Arteries and to allot to them only Spirit according to the opinion of Praxagoras and Erasistratus of whom we shall speak hereafter which opinion perhaps they borrowed of him Perhaps also this Book was none of Aristotle's We must make one observation more concerning the Anatomy of Aristotle which is that he never dissected any thing but Brutes and that in his time they durst not Anatomize a Humane body Which he insinuates himself in these words (g) Hist An. lib. 1. cap. 16. The inward parts of mens bodies are unknown for we have nothing certain thereupon but we must judge of them by the resemblance which we suppose them to have to the parts of other Animals which answer to each of them I am surpriz'd (h) Anthropograph lib. 1. cap. 4. that Riolan should maintain the contrary and more that he should endeavour to prove it from passages of Aristotle which are nothing to the purpose but he is not the only one whose Prejudice and Bigotry for the Antients has caused to make such false steps We shall have occasion to say something more upon this subject in the first Book of the next Volume Aristotle wrote also some Books of Plants of which there are some yet remaining but he treats of them rather as a Philosopher than a Physician He was born in the ninety ninth Olympiad and he dyed the 3d year of the hundred and fourteenth Olympiad aged by this account about sixty three He was the Son of a Physician and of the family of the Asclepiades He belonged also to Physick another way which is not much for his honour (i) Diogenes Laertius Hesychius Milesius in vita Epicuri Epicurus reproaches him with having spent his patrimony while he was young in debauchery and that after he had been some time a Souldier he betook himself to selling (k) We shall consider in the sequel the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by Diogenes Laertius on this occasion of Antidotes about the Markets till Plato's School being open'd he applied himself to the study of Philosophy under him CHAP. VI. Theophrastus THeophrastus who succeeded Aristotle took upon him the management of his School and after his death did something likewise towards Physick The most considerable of his works which remain to our times are his Books of Plants But as Plants may be consider'd either as a part of Agriculture of Natural History or of Physick Theophrastus as well as Aristotle seems to consider them chiefly as a Naturalist and seems rather to have examined their Growth and Termination and the parts whereof they are composed than their Medicinal properties altho sometimes en passant he touches upon them too But he having describ'd several we shall be obligâ—d to take farther notice of him upon this account with Dioscorides There are yet some small pieces of his remaining concerning the Vertigo Swooning Sweat and the Palsie of which he treats rather as a Philosopher than a Physician that is he is inquisitive after the Causes of these Distempers only without speaking of any Remedies He says that Vertigoâ—s come when some strange spirit or superfluous moisture goes into the Head or as he expresses it about the Head whether this comes from any sort of Food as from Wine or from any other humour or from turning the Head round For adds he the place about the Brain or the Brain an usual manner of expression among the Greeks is naturally moist and when any foreign Spirit gets in it does violence after it is got in and forces the natural moisture into the veins causing it to turn round so that this Spirit has the same effect as if any body turn'd the Head round it being indifferent whether it be done inwardly or outwardly The Palsie arises from a chilness or privation and want of Spirits or
of the Trojan War since which we have been better informâ—d in the Historical Truth of Fact for all his skill lay in the cure of wounds We may urge likewise that if Esculapius or his Sons had been Physicians they wou'd have known how to Diet their Sick better a principal part of a Physicians skill * Athenaeus uses this instance as an argument of the temperance of Homer's Heroes which begat so good a Constitution that thoâ— wounded they might drink Wine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pernicious in inslamations thick and very nourishing and this Nestor the wisest of the Greeks advises Machaon the skilsullest in these Matters to do every day so long as he shou'd be laid up From hence Athenaus infers that 't was not the practice of the great Men of Times to drink Wine but upon extraordinary occasions But whetherâ— this Advice was suitable to the Wisdom of Nestor or the Skill of Machaon I leavs the learned Reader to judge Vid. Athenaeum lib. 1. p. 10. They wouâ—d not have given Eurypylus when wounded Broth made with Wine Meal and Cheese ground in it nor wou'd Machaon himself with a wound in his shoulder have drank Wine which Physicians hold to be hurtful to wounds The answer Plato made to this objection gives so particular an Idea of the Physick of Esculapius and his Sons that I can't forbear citing it at length (b) De Repub Lib 3. This discourse is atridg'd by Maximus Tyrius Serm. 29. 'T is absurd says he that Men shou'd want Physicians not only for Wounds and Diseases arising from an ill disposition of the Air and the uncertainty of Weather but from those too that spring from Sloth and Luxury which silling em with Water and Wind as if their Bodies were Lakes or Sinks have obligâ—d the Successors of Esculapius to invent new names of Flatus and Defluxions or Catarrhs never heard of before What makes me conjecture at least that these Distempers were unknown in Esculapius's time is That his Sons at the Siege of Troy did not forbid the Potion that a Woman gave to Eurypylus when he was wounded made of Cheese ground and Meal sleep'd in Wine of * Homer calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The great variety of ancient conjectures about the derivation of the name shews the uncertainty of em which whoever is curious to know may consult the Scholia of Dâ—â—vious upon the 11th Book of the Ilias and Athenaeus p. 30. Nâ—â— is it less uncertain what sort of Wine it was Athenaeus gives us two descriptions of it directlâ— contrary one to aâ—â—ther For the first see the so eâ—â—ing Note the other we find pag. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here the Pramnian Wine is neither thick 〈◊〉 sweet but a rough hard strong Wine The testimony of Aristophanes which he immediately subjoyns is to the same purpose that the Athenians neither loved harsh grating Poets nor crabbed Pramnian Wine that cortracted their Brows and their Anus The Reader may compare this passage with that in the note immediately foregoing and as he pleases take or rejest either Pramos which are things that increase Phlegm You will say doubtless that the draught was ridiculous and not at all proper for a wounded Man but you must know that the Physicians that succeeded Esculapius knew nothing of the Physick now in use before Herodicus who is as it were the †So the Author translates it whose words I thought it best to stick to not having at present an opportunity of consulting the Original PAEDAGOGUE of DISEASES He being Master of the Academy where the Youth exercisâ—d and finding himself a Valetudinarian contrivâ—d to make Gymnastick that is the Art of Exercising the Body a branch of Physick which brought both upon himself and those that came after him a great deal of trouble How so you 'll say Why he brought himself to a lingring death for observing too carefully a distemper in it self mortal which of consequence he cou'd not cure he gave himself so entirely to enquire after a remedy that quitting all other affairs 't was the business of his Life to torture his own Carcass so that tho' the least deviation from his constant method of living were a disease to him he arriv'd not at Health but at Old Age which we callâ—d the PAEDAGOGUE or if you please the GOVERNESS or NURSE of DISEASES not of the DISEASâ—D Oh! noble Fruit of his Art yet such as the Man deservâ—d that did not know that 't was not out ' of Ignorance or for want of Experience that Esculapius forbore to teach his Scholars so painful a method but because he was of opinion That in all Cities and well regulated Societies where every Man has his task assign'd him no Man can or ought to have leisure to be a Valetudinarian all his Life and bestow his whole care upon his Carcass To be convinc'd of the Justice of Esculapius's proceedings we need only to reflect upon the different conduct of Labouring Men and Gentlemen in such cases If a Mason or a Carpenter falls sick he desires his Physician to expedite his Cure by VOMIT or PURGE or Manual Operation either by Incision or Cautery If he orders him a long course of Physick he tells him That he has no leisure to be sick that he can't afford to protract a Life of misery and languish perpetually idle under the protection of Physick He dismisses his Physician and returning to his usual course of Life falls to work and recovers his health or if the Disease proves too mighty for him he dies and is rid at once of Life and the troubles of the World * I find our Masons and Carpenters and all other Artificers of another mind as fond of Life upon any terms and as willing to be idle as e'er a Gentleman of 'em all and I doubt they 're so all the World over whatever they might be in Plato's Common-wealth This no doubt is the true use that all Mechanicks ought to make of Physick to whom Work is so necessary that when they can follow it no longer Death is a favour But it may be objected that with the Rich that live upon their Rents the case alters for they can't be reduc'd to that hard choice of Working or Dying But consider that whatsoever a Man's Condition or Profession be the Publick Good requires that he shou'd not be idle but that every one shou'd be industrious in his station which cant be while he is wholly taken up about himself and his solicitude for his health makes him fancy himself continually sick Thus this new Physick is not only injurious to all the Individuals but also to the Community in general T was upon conviction of these Truths that Esculapius limited his Instructions to the use of a sound Constitution and good Education and was contented to teach the Method of curing Diseases arising from external Causes only by a few Remedies taken or Incision made without changing their
advance and are extended very much which must in no manner be hurt He uses also in this place the same name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same Book likewise furnishes us with a third passage wherein we meet the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 repeated several times it is in speaking of the Articulations of the Vertebrae but all that he says there seems better explicable of the Ligaments than of the Nerves properly so call'd We find likewise in another (k) De Morb. vulgar lib. 2. sect 4. Book of Hippocrates the following passage There are two Nerves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which come from the Brain which passing behind the great Vertebrae draw sidewards from above towards the Gullet or Oesophagus and touching the Artery on both sides join again as if there were but one and terminate where the Vertebrae and the Diaphragma take their Origin or are join'd Some have supposed that these Nerves parting in this place tended towards the Liver and towards the Spleen There is another Nerve which proceeds from each side the Vertebrae along the Spine and passing obliquely over the Vertebrae disperses it self into the sides And these Nerves as well as the Veins of which I spoke before seem to traverse the Diaphragm and terminate in the Mesentery These Nerves re-joining again at the place where the Diaphragm takes its Origin and passing through the middle below the Artery return to the Vertebrae and at last lose themselves in the Os Sacrum It is impossible to translate this passage well by reason of its obscurity it is taken from a fragment of Anatomy in the Book before cited which appears to be out of its place having no coherence with any thing either antecedent or consequent yet Galen has commented upon this Book of Hippocrates (l) Comment in lib. de artiâ— for he relates some of the first words of the passage we have translated which proves that the fragment from whence it was taken was inserted even in his time in the place where we now find it Galen contents himself to insinuate in two words that this passage treats of real Nerves without giving himself the trouble to explain it entire and perceiving that this passage was little for the honour of Hippocrates he goes about to excuse him saying What he writ was only for a (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Memorandum for himself and not to treat exactly to the bottom of this matter And to give the more credit to it he adds That the first and third Books of his Epidemicks were the only Books which Hippocrates finished or that he wrote with any design of publishing The passage here meant being taken out of the second which according to Galen was but a sort of Meddly which the Author had not digested this may be so but he ought to have shewn that Hippocrates had elsewhere spoken better or more clearer on this head It is to no purpose to perplex our selves to find in an Author what he has not if we shou'd allow that this ancient Physician and the Asclepiades his predecessors knew or had seen some considerable Trunk of Nerves as it was hard if the practice of Chirurgery gave them no occasion they appear not to have distinguish'd them well from Tendons or Ligaments nor to have known the true use of them (n) See the Chapter of Blood-letting The forecited passage in which Hippocrates assigns to the Veins and Arteries the Office of the Nerves is a convincing proof of his Ignorance on that subject but there cannot be a better proof than we find in the Writings of this Physician and the manner of his reasoning with (o) Vid. lib. â— Alcmaeon and other Philosophers of his time about Hearing Smelling and the rest of the Senses therein we do not see that either one oâ—t other so much as suspected the share the Nerves have in Sensation Of the Organs of SENSE We have seen before Alcmaeon's Opinion The following descriptions of the Organs of Sense are taken from Hippocrates (a) Lib. de Carn The Ears sa's he have a hole which butts upon a bone as hard and dry as a stone to which is join'd a Fistulous cavity or a sort of passage oblique and narrow at the entry of which there is a Membrane extreamly fine and dry whose driness as well as that of the bone produces the sound the Air being reflected by this bone and by this membrane After which without mentioning the Nerves he endeavours to prove that whatever is dry sounds most In another place he says (b) De Loc. in Hom. That the cavities which are about the Ears are made only for the better hearing of noises and sounds And he adds That whatever comes to the Brain by the Membrane which encompasses it is distinctly heard that for that reason there is but one passage which pierces in this place to the Membrane which is spread over the Brain As for the Smelling he says The brain being moist has the faculty of scenting or smelling by drawing in the odour of dry things with the air which runs a-thwart (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. de Carnib 4. certain dry bodies The Brain adds he reaches even into the cavity of the Nose in this place there is no bone between them but only a soft cartilage like a Spunge which can neither be call'd bone nor flesh He describes the Eye after this manner There are says he some small veins extreamly slender which go (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the sight or eye Lib. de loc in hom into the eye thro' the Membrane which incloses the Brain These veins nourish the sight of the eye with a Liquor extreamly pure which comes from the brain in which the Images of things appear to the eyes the same veins if they dry up extinguish the sight There are also three Membranes which encompass the eye of which the first is the thickest the second is thinner the third is extreamly fine which preserves the liquor or humour of the eye The first being hurt the eye is out of order The second being broken puts it in great danger that it puffs outward like a bladder But the third which preserves the humour is that whose breaking is of worst consequence What follows we find in another (c) Lib. de Carn Book We see for this reason or after this manner vision is made There is a vein which runs from the Membrane of the Brain which passing thro' the bone enters into each eye By these two veins the most subtil part of the viscid humour of the brain distils as it were thro' a Streiner and forms round about it a Membrane like to that which is transparent in the eye which is exposed to the air and winds which is form'd much after the same manner that other Membranes are but there are several Membranes about the eye which are like to that which is transparent within In this
Flatib all that incommodes Man but this is too general He thought that the blood in good condition nourished and that it was the fountain of the vital heat that it caus'd a fresh colour and good health That the yellow Bile preserv'd the body in its natural state hindering the small Vessels and secret Passages from being stopp'd and keeping open the Drain of the Excrements He thought it actuated the Senses and help'd to the concoction of the Aliment The black Bile was a sort of Ground which serv'd as a support and foundation for other humours The Flegm servâ—d to supple and facilitate the motion of the Nerves Membranes Cartilages Joints and Tongue and other Parts Besides the four first qualities which Hippocrates attributed to the Humours as moisture driness heat and cold it is apparent that he believed they had or might have abundance of others which all had their use and were never hurtful but when one prevailed over the rest or was separated from them Take his own words (e) De prisâ— Med. lib. 2. in the Chapter of Alcmaeon The Ancients says he did not believe that the dry the cold the hot or the moist nor any other like quality incommoded a Man but that whatever exceeded or prevailed of any of these qualities and which Nature cou'd not overcome was that which incommoded the Man and that which they endeavoured to take away or correct so of the sweet the most sweet was the strongest as of the bitter or sowre that which was most bitter and most sowre in short the highest degree of every thing These are says Hippocrates the latest discoveries of the Ancients in the body of Man and which were hurtful There are really in our bodies bitter sweet sowre salt rough and insipid and abundance of others which have different faculties according to their quantity or quality These different qualities are insensible and do not hurt so long as they are in due mixture but if these humours separate and lodge apart then their qualities become at once both sensible and inconvenient From what Hippocrates has here said we may gather that he did not suppose the Matters we have spoken of to act only by what the Philosophers callâ—d first qualities so far from that that he says a little after That 't is not the hot that is of any mighty power but the sowre the insipid c. whether within a Man or without a Man whether in regard of what he cats or what he drinks or what he applies outwardly in what manner soever concluding that of all the faculties there are none less active than heat and cold What we have said of the separation of the humours from one another relate to what Hippocrates says in divers places that the humours move This motion which is the cause of several distempers expresses sometimes by a term it signifies (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impeâ—◠〈◊〉 â—â—â—dine incenli a Fury like that of some Animals that grow Lustful at certain times There are other passages by which Hippocrates seems to impute Diseases (g) Lib. de affectâ— nib lib 〈◊〉 de Morb. to two of these humours only the Bile and Pituita as they offer'd either in quantity or quality or place But as he speaks elsewhere of two sorts of Bile these two humours may be split into three and with the blood make four (h) Lib. 4. de Morb. In some other passages he adds a fifth which is Water of which he supposes the Spleen to be the Spring as the Liver and the Brain are of the Blood the Bile and the Pituita Some of his Commentators make this Water the same with the Melancholy to which Hippocrates seems to substitute it I cannot see how to reconcile their opinion with the Idea he had of that humour he look'd upon 't as we have said before as a sort of Lee of the rest of the humours which will by no means agree with water Nor are they nearer their point for making two sorts of Melancholy one of which we have been speaking and another which ought rather to be call'd black Bile which is only the yellow Bile turn'd black as he supposed by being over-heated and burnt this having nothing in common with water The only support of the opinion in question is that he says in the same passage that this water is the heaviest of all the humours I see no reason why we shou'd not object that this is another System (i) It is ascrib'd to Polyblus his Son-iâ—-â—aw See Book 4. Ch. 1. since it has been always suspected that Hippocrates was not the Author of that Book This water might be something like what Hippocrates elsewhere calls Ichor by which he meant any sort of clear thin Liquor form'd in the body of a Man whether sound or unsound So he calls by this name what runs from a malignant Vlcer and speaks in several places of sharp and bilious Ichors and burning Ichors (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We find yet a third System of the Causes of Diseases in another book Intituled Of Winds or Spirits which is mixâ—d with the Works of Hippocrates but most suppose it not to be his The Author of this book uses sometimes the word Wind sometimes Spirit with this difference That the latter signifies the Spirits or Air and Wind inclosed in the body but the former the Wind without from whence nevertheless he derives that within by means of the Air drawn by respiration and the Air contain'd in the Food we take This book upon reading seems to be one of the most rational and coherent of all Hippocrates's Works He looks upon the Air and the Spirits to be the true Causes of health and of diseases even in preference to the humours which here are only collateral Causes as the Spirits mix with ' em But this later opinion may be reconcil'd with that which we have before allow'd to be Hippocrates's concerning the effects of the humours only alledging that all that has been attributed to them in relation to health or sickness supposes an impulse of the Spirits as the first movers and that therefore Hippocrates nam'd them as we have said before that which gives the motion There is according to Hippocrates as great a variety of external Causes of health and diseases as there is of things without the body of Man which may act upon him as there is of diversity in his Conduct and of accidents in the course of his Life From this Hypothesis it is plain that Health and Sickness in general depend upon the following Causes On the Air which surrounds us what we eat and drink sleep watching exercise what goes out of our bodies and what is kept in and upon the Passions In this number likewise are rank'd those foreign bodies which occur and are sometimes useful yet may often dissolve cut or break the union of the Parts of ours Poisons and venemous
a Plant which he calls (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mecon which is the name the Greeks call the Poppy by But 't is remarkable that he generally attributes to this Plant a purgative quality which makes it plain that he did not mean the Poppy by it (d) De Simplic Medicater facultat lib. 2. Galen tells us that some took the Peplus which we have ranked before amongst the Purgatives and Spatling Poppy for the same Plant and in his Glosses upon Hippocrates he says that Meconium and Peplus signified frequently the same thing in him I suppose we ought to read Mecon and not Meconium Pliny taking notice that the Tithymale which is the same with the Peplus was otherwise call'd Mecon or at least Galen ought to have said that the Meconium was the Juice of the Peplus and not the Peplus itself We find notwithstanding in Hippocrates some passages in which these two words Mecon and Meconium are taken in the same sense in which the Greeks of the following Ages constantly used them that is the first signified Poppy and the latter the Juice of it which shews that in Hippocrates's time two very different things were called by the same name the Peplus which is a purging Tithymale and the Poppy which is Astringent and Somniferous He speaks likewise of a third sort of Meconium drawn from the Excrements which name has been since given to the Excrements first voided by a Child newly born In the second Book of Womens distempers he proposes (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 juice is formed that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Opium in Latin We may find in Dioscorides the difference between Opium and Meconium the Juice of Poppy for a distemper of the Matrix and as a proof that he meant the Juice of Poppy which causes sleep he calls it within a few lines after the (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hipnotic Meconium to distinguish it from the other From hence it is apparent that he knew the virtue of the Poppy but it is observable that he us'd it very seldom and I do not find that he proposes this Remedy in the cases to which it has been since apply'd that is in wakings and especially in pains We shall have occasion to say more of this Remedy (g) See below in the Chapt. of Heraclides Tarentum in the sequel and of the use the Ancients made and the doubts they had of it There is another passage in Hippocrates wherein he mentions the white and black Poppy (h) De vict rat lib 2. in these words The Poppy says he is Astringent the black more than the white yet the white is so likewise (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but it nourishes and is of great force Dioscorides and Galen inform us that the Ancients put Poppy-seeds in their Cakes which they made of Meal and Honey and sometime even into their Bread as it is not likely they did it for nourishment Perhaps there may be some fault in the Text of Hippocrates CHAP. XXI Of the Specifick Remedies of the several distempers whose operations are not accounted for THe Medicines hitherto spoke of act after a sensible manner and it was by their means that Hippocrates answered the general intentions which he proposed in the cure of diseases There were other Medicines which he made use of for no other reason but the known success of them in several particular cases His own experience and that of his predecessors was sufficient to establish the use of them tho he could not rationally account for their effects We shall give some instances of these remedies in the account of Hippocrates's method of curing some particular diseases But we must not forget here that these remedies were chiefly such as he inherited from his predecessors the Asclepiades who being Empiricks did not much trouble themselves how their Medicines operated so the Patients were cured Tho Hippocrates relied very much upon the former sort of Medicines yet he did not neglect these for almost all the Physicians after him continued the use of both sorts in their practice the one supplying the defects of the other CHAP. XXII Of the Remedies apply'd externally to diverse parts of the Body Of Compound Medicines in general and of the Pharmacy of Hippocrates AMongst the Remedies externally apply'd (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Fire and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to warm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to heat This last word seems common to Fomentations Cataplasms and all exterior applications of Oils and Unguents which are used as lentfiers In Latin Fomentum from Fovere Fomentations were the chief These were a peculiar sort of Bath which Hippocrates used very often and which was made several ways The first was that wherein the Patient (b) This sort of Fomentation was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to sit within Lib. de Superfatat de ratione victùs in acutis de morb 3. sat in a Vessel in a decoction of Herbs or Simples appropriate to his Malady so that the part agrieved was soaked in the decoction This was chiefly us'd in distempers of the Womb of the Arms the Bladder the Reins and generally all the parts below the Diaphragm This Remedy might be referr'd to the Chapter of Baths of which it is a kind The second way of Fomenting was to take warm Water and put it into a Skin or Bladder or even into a Copper or Earthen Vessel and to apply it to the part affected as for example upon the side in a Pleurisie They use likewise a large Sponge which they dipt in the water or other hot Liquor and squeezed out part of the water before they applyâ—d it The same use they made of Barley or Vetches or Bran which was boyl'd in some proper liquor and applyâ—d in a linnen bag These Fomentations were call'd moist Fomentations He us'd also dry ones made of Salt or Millet made very hot and applied in bags upon the part The last sort of Fomentations was by way of Vapour which steam'd from some hot Liquor We find an instance of this sort of Fomentations in the first Book of Womens distempers He cast at several times bits of red hot Iron into urine and covering the Patient close upwards caused her to receive the steam below His design in these Fomentations was to warm the part to resolve or dissipate and draw out the peccant matter if any where to mollifie and asswage pain to open the passages or even to shut them according as the Fomentations were Emollient or Astringent (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fumigations were likewise very much used by Hippocrates for the following intentions (d) De Morb. lib. 3. In the Quinzy he burnt Hysop with Sulphur and Pitch and caused the Smoke to be drawn into the Throat thro a
that distinguishes himself from all other Males by a fierce and truly Masculine Air which is peculiar to him I translate the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the French word Air which might be rendred Species in Latin which answers exactly to the Greek the Etymologie being the same The dissections that Aristotle made of several different sorts of Animals Quadrupeds Birds Fishes and Insects had taught him divers things concerning the use of the parts of each of these Kinds We shall not go about to examine here what he delivers of the difference of their parts and uses because that would lead us too far from our Subject We shall only touch here in a few words upon what relates to the structure and use of parts common to all perfect Animals such as Men and all Quadrupeds Aristotle esteem'd the heart to be the Origen and Source of the veins and blood The blood says he goes from the heart into the veins (g) De Part. An. lib. 3. cap. 4. Those that find the Circulation of the Blood in Aristotle will have some difficulty to get over this Passage but it comes not from any part into the heart He says that there come two veins out of the heart one from the right side which is the largest and the other from the left side which is the least which he calls the Aorta where by the by we may take notice that this Philosopher (h) Hist Anim. lib. 3. cap. 5. as Galen says is the first that gave that name to the great Artery which proves that the book i of the Heart wherein this name is found is not Hippocrates's Aristotle thought that these two veins distributed the blood to all parts of the body He says elsewhere that there were in the heart three Cavities which he calls ventricles Of these three ventricles that in the middle of whose scituation he gives no other account is the common principle of the other two altho' it be the least the blood which it contains is also the most temperate and pure The blood of the right ventricle is the hottest and that of the left the coldest This latter ventricle being the biggest of the three These three ventricles says he communicate with the lungs by vessels different from the two great veins which disperse themselves thro the whole substance of the Lungs He made not only the veins of the vessels which contain blood to come out of the heart but he would have the Nerves also to take their Origine from thence for which opinion this was his ground (k) Hist An. lib. 3. cap. 5. The biggest Ventricle of the Heart says he contains small Nerves and it is a true Nerve in its extremities having no Cavity and being stretched after the manner of Nerves in the place where it terminates towards the Articulation of the bones He says also in another place (l) De part Anim. lib. 3 cap. 4. that there are abundance of Nerves in the heart which are of great use because the motions come from thence which are made by contracting and extending By this latter passage he seems to design the Tendons which serve to dilate and contract the heart and if we have observed before that Hippocrates confounded the Nerves with the Tendons and Ligaments Aristotle does not appear to have distinguished them any better nor to have known the use of the true Nerves In another place he affirms (m) Hâ—st Animal lib. 3. cap. 5. that the Nerves are not continuous but scatter'd here and there about the places of the Articulations by which it is visible he meant the Tendons If he had known the use of the Nerves he would not have said (n) De part Animal lib. 2. cap. 10. that none but the parts which had blood could feel or had sensation nor would he have maintained (o) De part Anim. lib. 2. cap. 1. that the flesh is the proper Organ of sensation as for motion if he attributes it to the Nerves or says 't is made immediately by the Nerves 't is easie to see that the Nerves there meant were either the Tendons or Ligaments As for the common principle of motion and sensation Aristotle places it in the Heart which he looks upon also as the principle of the nourishment of all the parts of the body by the means of the blood which it sends to them as the Focus which contains the natural fire upon which depends life as the place where the passions have their birth and where all the sensations terminate In a word as the true seat of the Soul and that not because the Nerves have their Origine from thence as some imagine but because it is the reservatory of the blood and spirits He formally maintains (p) lâ—b de Spiritu that the spirits cannot be contained in the Nerves But if Aristotle attributes such noble uses to the heart the brain was in his opinion but a heap of Water and Earth without blood and without sense The office of this Cold Lump was says he to refresh and moderate the heat of the heart But besides that he gives elsewhere this Office to the Lungs he does not account for the manner how the brain should be capable of discharging it And altho' the brain be plac'd immediately upon the spinal marrow and fix'd to it yet he pretended that the substance of that marrow was-quite different from that of the brain being a sort of blood prepar'd for the nourishment of the bones and consequently hot whereas the other was cold He made otherwise so little of the brain that if he did not absolutely reckon it amongst the excrements he thought it ought not to be ranked amongst the parts of the body which had any continuity or union with the rest that he look'd on 't as a substance of a peculiar nature and different from all the rest of the body As for the rest of the Viscera as the Liver the Spleen and the Kidneys he thought that their first and chief usage was to support the veins which would be pendulous but for them and to strengthen them in their place Besides this first use he assigned them some others The Liver helped to the digestion of the meat in the stomach and the guts by the warmth which it imparted to those parts of which we shall speak more particularly in the Sequel The Liver was not of such universal use and is according to him but accidentally necessary to collect and concoct the Vapours which rise from the Belly hence it is that Animals in whom these vapours take another course have but a very small Spleen as Birds and Fishes whose feathers and scales are form'd and nourish'd out of this moisture And these Animals for the same reason says he have neither kidneys nor bladder (q) De part Animâ—l 〈◊〉 3 â—ap 7. The Kidneys also according to him are onlâ— for conveniency their office is to imbibe part of the
was much the same with that of Hippocrates He blooded and purged after the same manner and upon the same occasions His particular method in every distemper may be seen in (e) Acuti Pass l. 3 c. 17. Caelius Aurelianus The same Author reports that Diocles caused all those that were troubled with the Iliack passion to swallow a Leaden Bullet a Medicine of which I find no mention in Hippocrates and which might perhaps be of Diocles's own invention He distinguished between the Ileus and Chordapsus which two names Hippocrates seemed to give to the same distemper Diocles signified by the former of these names a distemper of the intestina tenuia and by the latter of the intestina crassa He practised also Surgery and invented an instrument to draw out the head of a Dart when it was left in the wound which was called by his name in Celsus his time He invented also the manner of (f) Galen de Faâ—ciâ—s Bandage for the head which went also by his name Galen observes that this Physician was the first that wrote of Anatomical Administration that is of the manner and order of dissection for the better displaying the parts of the body He gave at the same time this account for the Silence of those that preceded him and of the motives that induced him to write upon that subject (g) De Adminisâ— Anatom lib. 2. Before Diocles says Galen Physick being almost entirely limited to the family of the Asclepiades the Fathers taught their Sons Anatomy and bred them from their infancy to the dissection of Animals So that it going from Father to Son by way of Manual Tradition it was needless to write of the manner because it was as impossible they should forget it as their Alphabet which they learnt almost at the same time But the Art of Physick spreading beyond this family by means of the Scholars of Hippocrates Diocles wrote upon this subject in favour of those whose Fathers were not Physicians Thus far Galen of Diocles who nevertheless by Galen's own report had made no great progress in Anatomy He satisfied himself with what his predecessors had done who were no great Anatomists as we have already observ'd Galen testifies likewise for Diocles that he practiced Physick out of a principle of Humanity as Hippocrates had done and not for Pront or Glory which were motives upon which other Physicians acted He speaks of him elsewhere as a great man in his Art and affirms that he was master of it in every part Athenaeus mentions a piece of Diocles which treated of Poysons and another which teaches (h) This Book was entitled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manner of dressing victuals Athenaeus tells us of several other antient Physicians that wrote upon this latter subject and mentions amongst others Philistion whom we have spoken of before Erasistratus Philotimus Glaucus and Dionisius Their design in probability was not so much to please the taste as to render the food more wholesom Nevertheless Plato complains (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Art of Cookery was crept into Physick under pretence of dressing for health whereas it had the quite contrary effect and he asserts that this Art is just of as much use in Physick as (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Art of washing and perfuming is to the Gymnastick of which we have already spoken He calls the art of Cookery and the art Washing and Beautifying the flatterers of Physick and Gymnastick Diocles wrote likewise the distempers of Women He compos'd also a Book entitled of the weeks wherein he treated undoubtedly of the critical days after the manner of Hippocrates There was also another Diocles of Chalcedon who is cited by (l) Medicament local l. 7. c. 4. Galen but I know not when he lived CHAP IX Praxagoras PRaxagoras came a little after Diocles living at the latest about the time of Aristotle His Fathers name was (a) De dissectiones â—ulv cap ult Nicarchius b He was at the Isle of Cos as well as Hippocrates and of the same Family that is of the Asclepiades with this peculiarity () Method Med. lib. 1. that he was the last the Family being extinct in him This is the observation of Galen with which Suidas does by no means agree who says there were seven descendants from Hippocrates all Physicians who successively bore his name but I am rather apt to credit Galen Praxagoras is reckon'd the third after Hippocrates who worthily maintain'd the honour of rational Physick Galen speaks honourably of him as a man that understood his business excellently well He left several Books which are lost Galen cites some of them as that of the use of abstinence those of the ordinary and extraordinary symptoms of Diseases another entituled of natural things or things which naturally happen and another of Medicaments He past in his time for a great Anatomist but all that he wrote upon that subject being lost we know nothing of his Sentiments except that he believed with Aristotle that the Nerves come from the Heart He added (d) Galen de decret Hippocrat â—laton that the Arteries turn to Nerves as their cavities grow straight towards the extremities He held with this Philosopher that the brain was of little use and look'd upon it as only an appendix to the spinal Marrow He maintain'd also that the (e) De dignoseeâ—d Puls l. 4. cap. 2. Arteries contain'd no Liquor an opinion which we shall see driven farther by Erasistratus From hence we may conclude that Praxagoras was the first Author that distinguish'd the arteries properly so call'd from the veins The Physicians of the preceding ages having indifferently call'd both veins and arteries by the name of veins Praxagoras was the first that distinguish'd with more exactness than before the humours or juices of the body (f) See the Anatomy of Hippocrates and Aristotle Rufus Ephesius reports that he said of these juices that one was sweet another (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 equally mix'd or temperate (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another resemosed Glass which was a sort of flegin very penetrant another sower another nitrous another of the colour of a Leek another salt another bitter another like the yolk of an Egg. He added besides these two other sorts of Juices one which he call'd (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Raking that is which produced a sense in the part as if it were scrap'd with a Knife or some such Instrument the other he call'd (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These names as well as those taken from the colour of a Leek and the Yoâ—k of an Egg are really new But those of sowre bitter nitrous c. were applied by Hippocrates to the same things before fix'd (l) Introduct capâ— 9. Most diseases according to him depended upon these dispositions of the humours and it was his opinion that it was in vain to look any where else than into
immediately laid claim to the Soveraignty of Physick and Philosophy set up for a new Hypothesis and a new Sect and with the true Spirit of an Enthusiastick Reformer very rudely and unjustly insulted and vilify'd all the great men that preceded him in either Study especially Aristotle and Galen This Insolence arm'd abundance of Volunteers against him and engag'd divers learned Pens on both sides in the Controversie amongst whom Doringius made one whose Book de Medicina Medicis whether we consider the Matter Method or Design of it must be accounted as it really is a Polemical not a Historical Piece For those few Historical Remarks which he premises seem rather to serve as an Introduction to his Argument and to shew the Antiquity and Excellence of the Sect which he undertakes the defence of than to make any part of the Original Design Neander of Bremen seems to promise something more perfect and compleat as our Author relates his design or rather the Title of his Book But I have never seen this Book as our Author likewise confesses he never had when he wrote his Preface and therefore I can only observe concerning it that this Piece cou'd afford our Author no Method or Assistance in the prosecution of his Excellent work hitherto After these the learned Conringius Professor at Helmstadt fell upon much the same Argument which he treated of in several Lectures to his Scholars and promis'd to publish compleat to the World but was prevented by death It was afterwards publish'd in Quarto under the Title of Hermanni Conringii Introductio ad universam Medicinam with tedious Notes by Christopher Schelhammer his Scholar and afterwards Professor in the same University which serve rather to swell the Bulk than raise the Value of his Author and to make him more Voluminous than Useful or Compleat The whole Work is divided into several Chapters or Lectures concerning the Nature Constitution and Invention of Med'cine or the Art of Physick Of the Physick of the Asclepiadean Family and the several Antient Schools of Physick Of the several Sects and their Authors The rest of his Chapters he bestows upon the several Members of the Faculty viz. Physiology Pathology Pharmaceuticks Semeioticks Diaeteticks Anatomy Botany c. each apart wherein after a few slight hints of the use of 'em in general he proceeds to ennumerate and censure the Authors that have written of 'em whether Antient or Modern Had this design been rightly and exactly prosecuted 't is probable our Author had been in great measure prevented For tho the Method in which they proceed be very different yet the matter wou'd have been in the main coincident But whether Conringius who perhaps intended these Lectures only as private directions to his own Scholars for the choice of Authors in the course of their studies who therefore might rest satisfy'd in the single Authority of their Master did not think himself oblig'd to dilate on those matters or Authors which he recommended to 'em or cautioned 'em of Or whether coming out after his Death from the Notes taken by his Scholars during his Reading these Lectures were mutilated by a hasty transcription Or which at last 't is most reasonable to believe that these Lectures were only Sketches of his design rough Draughts of a Piece which wou'd have made a very different Figure had the Author liv'd to have filled up his Design and given the Finishing Strokes The view which he gives of the Physick of any Age or Persons is very confus'd short and imperfect His Characters of Authors superficial arbitrary and sometimes unjust Nor is his Performance much mended by the hevy labours of his Disciple Schelhammer whose Partiality and want of Judgment absolutely incapacitate him for the business of a Historian or a Critick His Passion for Aristotle and Galen is most remarkable in him they are his Spectacles of Philosophy and Physick without which the can't see any thing nor comprehend how others shou'd Upon this account he bears an irreconcileable grudge to the English Physicians particularly to Dr Willis for not submitting their Reason upon all occasions to his two Oracles and having us'd his own understanding to leading-strings all his Life he wonders at the Boldness and Presumption of any one that dares trust his to its own Legs I suppose we need no other line to fathom the depth of this Gentleman's capacity and to assure us that no great burthens of Learning are like to reach us that way But if we consider his Favourites the Cobweb Spinners upon Aristotle and Galen and the plundering Compilers of tedious Dutch Systems of Practice which he values by the Bulk we have no great reason to be ambitious of his Favour but rather to take his censure for a Complement and be proud of being out of his good Graces Besides these and the Chronology of Wolfgangus Justus which our Author says he has not seen tho in the fourth Book of this Volume in the Chapter of Diocles Carystius he taxes him with a considerable mistake there are some other small Pieces of Heurnius Vanderlindan c. which afford some scatter'd hints but such as are no bar to our Author's pretensions as the first that has regularly trod this Path in which no continued traces appear to guide him I shall not attempt to forestal the satisfaction of the Reader with a tedious account of our Author's Performance and Merit on this account But I must be so just to him as without trespassing upon any man's patience to observe that Mr le Clerc is the first that has given us a distinct view of the state of Physick in the fabulous Ages of the world He has taken exact care to settle the age of the several reputed Inventers of it and from a confusion of Traditions absurd fabulous or uncertain so judiciously to extricate the truth as with a great measure of certainty to deliver to us no contemptible account of the growth and encrease of Physick during those dark times As his light encreases his prospect clears up and the second Book gives us a succinct but a well digested account of the Progress of the Science under the management and cultivation of the Philosophers till the time of Hippocrates whose Reputation and Abilities grew to such a heighth as to overtop and obscure all that went before him and even to cast a damp and a cloud upon the Merits of all that have succeeded him for so many Ages to this day His third Book is entirely taken up with the History and Physick of Hippocrates which he has so far exhausted that scarce the works of that great man himself can give us so just an Idea of his Merit and Abilities He has with great accuracy and diligence distinguished the genuine Works of Hippocrates from the spurious and with as great Art and Judgment extracted a compendious System of the Philosophy and Medicine of that Father of Physick From whence if we have not the means of surveying
minutely all the particular passages and beauties of it we have at least the advantage of a more entire and uniform View and may make a better Judgment of the whole So that tho from thence we don't learn the practice of Hippocrates yet we may there see what occasion we have for it and be readily referred to any thing which we shall think fit to examine more minutely If therefore a work of this nature does not immediately make us able Physicians it makes us better Criticks and consequently t'other also if we will imploy our Judgments for the enlargement of our Knowledge and not perversely abuse it to snarl at one another The last Book of this Volume contains the account of the State of Physick from Hippocrates to the Age of Alexander the Great in which nothing of moment occurs except some few Innovations in Physiology by Plato Aristotle and Theophrastus no considerable Memoirs remaining to us of the Practice or Opinions of the profess'd Physicians after Polybus the Son-in-law of Hippocrates till Chrysippus who begins the next Volume One thing I think my self oblig'd to acquaint the Reader with that neither the Author nor the other Gentlemen concern'd in this version may be held responsible for errours of which I perhaps alone am guilty which is that in translating the first Book I have taken the liberty to add some few Marginal Notes which I thought of use to the Illustration of that part of the History and which I have therefore caus'd to be distinguish'd from the Authors which are referr'd to by Letters as mine by these marks * †It may perhaps be further expected that I should say something according to custom for myself and the Gentlemen concerned with me in this Version and apologize for what we have done For my part I see no reason for 't if we have done our Author justice an Apology is altogether unnecessary if not 't is insignificant We have thrown away our pains as the Reader will his and therefore I shall trust to the Merits of Mr Le Clerc for an Excuse if they will not serve I despair of any better and shall shift without as those concern'd with me must do likewise If we give the Reader any satisfaction 't will be double to us and we ask no more The Author's Preface â—Ivers learned Men before me have design'd 〈◊〉 the History of Physick but none as yet put 〈◊〉 execution none at least that has come to my â—â—â—wledge Vossius intended it and we find in 〈◊〉 of his posthumous pieces entituled De Philoâ—â—phia several things concerning the Antient â—â—â—sicians the writings left by 'em and the time 〈◊〉 which they lived but it seems to be a Plan only 〈◊〉 that a very defective one of a larger work Cap. 2. paragraph ultimo 〈◊〉 its Author in one place gives it the title of 〈◊〉 History of Physick in express terms Meibomius and Reinesius German Physiâ—ians well known by their works both promised â—he same History but were prevented by Death At present I know no man that has any such deâ—â—gn the learned Monsieur Dodart excepted a â—â—mous Physician of Paris whose work upon this â—ubject is expected with impatience If that apâ—â—ars suddenly whatever disadvantage I may â—eet with from this clashing I shall think it an â—onour to me and esteem my self happy in jumpâ—â—g with a Man of his merit in the same design The late Monsieur Menage likewise wrote the History of the Antient Physicians but there is abundance of difference between a History of Physick that is a collection of all that relates to their â—ersons the titles and number of their writings â—nd a History of Physick that is to set forth the â—pâ—â—ions of the Physicians their Systems and Meâ—â—â—ds and to trace step by step all their discoveries This was in my opinion not within the reach of Monsieur Menage who was no Physician tho his great learning sufficiently warrants to me his success in the other method Tho yet I know not whether that were printed or not Petrus Castellanus Greek Professor at Louvain published before Monsieur Menage a small book of the Lives of the Physicians both antient and modern printed in 1618 but he has omitted several both of the one and the other and says very little of any in particular Neander a Physician of Bremen printed likewise in 1623 a book wherein he treats of the Origine of Physick its Antiquity and Nobility of the Sects of its Professors of its intervals during which it was neglected of its Revivals and of the Works of those Physicians that contributed to it in which the Author has hit the true design of such a History if he has not contented himself with generalities too loose as has Doringius another German Physician who wrote a little Book in 1611 concerning Physick and Physicians the Rise and progress of their Art c. Scarce has this Author fill'd three pages of a Book in Octavo in a large Letter with all that he says of Hippocrates by which we may judge how his performance answers the title I have seen Doringius's Book but cou'd never see Neander's Nor have I seen a piece of Wolfgangus Justus called the Chronology of the Physicians both Antients and Moderns printed in the last Age. Among those Authors that treat of matters relating to the History of Physick we ought to rank the famous Civilian Tiâ—aqueau This learned Man in his thirty first Chapter of his Book concerning Nobility which alone wou'd make a reasonable Volume takes occasion to start the question Whether the Art of Physick derogates from Nobility or not Where after determination for the Negative he shews that Persons of the highest Rank have practised this Art that a great many Physicians have been canoniz'd for Saints that several Poâ—es Emperors and Kings have â—ractised Physick as well as many Queens and other Ladies of great Quality nay and divers Gods and Goddesses and almost all the antient Philosophers and Poets and beside the particular List of the Individuals of these several conditions he gives at last a general Catalogue of almost all the known Physicians rang'd Alphabetically All the aforecited Authors have written to the advantage of Physick and left the Antients in peaceable possession of the honour they have acquir'd and maintained till thâ—se latter ages Monsieur Lionardo de Capoa a Neapolitan Physician of great reputation is the only one who in a Book published by him wherein he treats of the Rise and Progress of Physick made it his principal aim to shew the uncertainty of it overthrowing the Systems of almost all particularly the Antient Physicians for amongst the Moderns he seems to side with those that espouse the Cartesian Philosophy and Chymical Principles explained after his own Sense at least he allows these two to be the foundations of the true Physick which ought to be establisht But the Physicians that ground their practice upon them being very few especially in Italy he concludes
Physick to be to this day very uncertain We may allow Monsieur di Capoa to have prosecuted the History of Physick so far as he has trac'd the Rise and Progress of it But besides that he loses the Character of a Historian choosing rather to combat as an Adversary the opinions he dislikes than to set 'em in their full light and spinning his own reasonings to much greater length than those are of which he opposes he omits abundance of things of great importance to the History of which he treats The chief use of his Book is to disabuse those that are prejudic'd in favour of the Antients Nor are this learned Mans works of small use especially in that Country where every thing that 's new is indifferentâ—y condemned for that reason 'T is apparent from what has been said that no body has yet written this History as I have already remarkt and that the Piece I now send abroad is the first that precisely handles this matter This makes me hope that the World will give me some grains the more of allowance and looking upon this only as an Essay will pardon more easily those faults they may find in it Nor in reality do I offer it for any more than an Essay my Subject yet as I may say but putting forth its buds in this little Volume which amounts not to a sixth part of the whole â—nd which had not seen the light but by this Specimen to try the relish and sound the opinions of my Judges that I may take my measures thereby in the Sequel This may suffice to stop the mouths of those that may object that I promise much and perform little that my Book does not make good its title that the Mountain is in labour of a Mouse If I thought they were of that opinion for whose judgments I ought to have a deference I wou'd immediately resign to some body else But if they think more favourably of me I shall persist in hopes to improve as I proceed by the instructions I may receive And I perswade my self that Greater Wits instead of accusing me of presumption in attempting a work that requires more learning than I am Master of will be fo just as to make some reckoning even of my weak endeavour and treat me at least as Quintilian does a certain Author whom he ranks among the indifferent ones * Dignus vel hoc proposito ut ilium sâ—issâ— omnia illa credamus He deserves says he the credit of knowing all that he ought to have known for undertaking to write of so great variety of things tho for no other reason than the boldness of the design I shall not amuse my self with the several uses that may be made of the History of Physick the title alone sufficiently shews what is to be expected I shall only take notice that one may see as t were with the cast an Eye by means of this History the prinâ—ipal Reasonings and most considerable Experiences that have been found out from the beginning of the World either for the prevention or cure of Diseases The Books which Physicians daily write are filled with their own proper Experiences or their particular Reasonings or those of others to which if they approve 'em they endeavour to give a new turn but we seldom see there those that are not for their Palate or at least we are not permitted to see the fairest side of ' em 'T is not so with this History which is obliged to penetrate into the very soul of every age and evâ—ry Author to relate faithfully and impartially the thoughts of all and to maintain every one in his right not giving to the Moderns what belongs to the Antients nor bestowing upon these latter what is due to the former leaving every body at liberty to make reflections for himself upon the matters of Fact as they stand related This at least is my own Idea of the History in hand and the end I proposed to my self in writing of it I have disengaged my self as much as possible from all prejudice on this occasion and have examined all the Authors that have come to my hands by their own writings and not by any written or verbal reports of 'em or their works I am convinced particularly in the case of Hippocrates that 't is dangerous to relie upon the testimony of another This ancient Physician having deservedly and upon many accounts gain'd the esteem of all the World and being lookâ—d on as a compleat Model every Author has made him the complement of his own discoveries or if any one were so tenacious as not to part with an invention which he thought he had a just title to he has immediately met with crowds of Opponents that have used their utmost efforts to shew that Hippocrates either said or saw it before a weakness not absolutely overcome to this hour I have declin'd taking any party or declaring for or against the opinions I report or if I have at any time taken more liberty it has been very rarely As to the disposition of my work the first part as I have said is the only one I publish at present which contains chiefly the Physick of Hippocrates that being of greatest importance in this Volume The rest which respects the the State of Physick before him and after him not being so considerable tho all of use to the History The first part seems to contain nothing but what is fabulous or very uncertain Yet even there among the Fables of Esculapius and other deified Physicians amidst the weak Essays of the first Men to secure or disengage themselves from distemper we discover the tracks of Medâ—cines in in most places yet esteem'd the principal such as Bleeding and Purging the antiquity of which is thereby establisht We may see likewise in the second Book that 't is not absolutely true that from Esculapius or his Sons to Hippocrates there was a sort of interregnum in Physick and that the six or seven hundred Years intervening between these two great Men were not time lost as some pretend On the contrary it shews that during this interval the Foundations of rational Physick were laid the Dissection of Animals introduced and a new method of enquiry into the causes of distempers brought into play for all which we are obliged to the Philosophers Pythagoras Alemaeon Democritus and others therein mentioned From Hippocrates to the Period that closes the 4th Book which I call the first History of Physick we find nothing new the term being very short We only observe that the Philosophers of that time the chief of which were Plato Aristotle and Theophrastus push'd on a little further in imitation of their Predecessors their Anatomical discoveries especially Aristotle The Practical Foundation laid by Hippocrates and his predecessors remained very little altered in all that Time There remains only the Physick of Hippocrates which as I have said is the most considerable part of this first Volume
Physick ISIS say they reveals Medicines to the sick by Dreams in their sleep which never miss their effect so that instances are daily seen of those that recover their health even after the Physicians have given 'em absolutely over This testimony of Diodorus is back'd by divers others But whatever ISIS did in Physick we hear of no Books written by her as by HERMES We have nothing remaining of her except (a) Kerher Oedip. Aegypt Borrich de orâ— progres Chim ISIS's Table a piece very curious and as they say very ancient written in Aegyptian Characters and charg'd with Hieroglyphicks that is with mystical Figures or Emblems which is in the Closet of the Duke of Savoy of which we shall take further notice when we treat of the Table of HERMES before-mention'd There were in Galen's time certain Medicines that bore the name of Isis which seem rather impos'd upon emâ—â— raise their value than drawn from her invention OSYRIS and ISIS being dead they wâ—â—e number'd among the Gods as well as MERCVRY If it be askâ—d Why the Ancients made Gods of those that were mortal and subjected to the same conditions with the rest of Mankind Cicero (b) De Nat. deor lib. 2. answers That 't was an establish'd custom in the World to deifie those persons that did any considerable services to Mankind as did HERCULES CASTOR and POLLUX ESCULAPIUS BACCHUS c. All these whom Cicero here mentions are much later than OSYRIS and ISIS who are the first that had this honour done ' em We are inform'd at least by Sancthoniathon (c) Euâ—â—b praepar Evang. That the Phaenicians and Aegyptians were the first that held as great Gods the Inventors of things necessary to Life and those that were thought to have done any mighty service to Mankind and from them says he this custom has been receivâ—d by all the rest Clemens Alexandrinus says likewise That the same practice was in use among the Chaldeans and the Inhabitants of Arabia the Happy of Palestine and of Persia and all the Barbarians in general CHAP. VII HORUS APOLLO or PAEON another Inventor of Physick THE Invention of Physick has been given likewise to Horus or Apollo Son of Isis This Goddess according to Diodorus finding in the water her Son Horus who was slain by Titans not only restor'd him to life but made him immortal also He adds That the name of Horus has been reader'd Apollo and that he was believ'd to have learn'd the Arts of Physick and Divination of his Mother Isis and that he was very useful to Men by his Oracles and by his Remedies By what is past Horus appears not to be the Inventor of Physick having been taught it by his Mother but if he be the same with Apollo the sequel will prove him to have had the credit of inventing this Art himself Ciâ—â—â— who as we have seen multiply'd the Mercuâ—ies will have it that there were (a) De Nat. dâ—or lib. 3. four Apollo's amongst which Horus seems not to be included unless we make him the same whom he caâ—â—s the fiâ—st of all the Apollo's Son of Vulcan and Patron of Athens If Mercury and Vulcan who according to Cicero were both Sons of Calâ—s were â—â—â—â—ntan and Misraim Grandsons of Noâ—â—h (b) De orâ— â—rogr Chiâ—â— as Bâ—rrichius fancies and if Osyris and Isâ—â— livâ—d about that time Horus their Son might be conâ—empâ—â—â—ry to the Son of Vulcan And if with the Author of the universal Biblioâ—heqâ—e we subâ—â—â—â—te Osyris to Mercury the Apollo of Dâ—odorus and Cicero will be if not the same person yet Brothers Children at least If there were really any one of that name that signalizâ—â— himself by his Physick it must be the Son of Isis tho' he were not the Apollo whom Ovid (a) Inventum Medicina meum est Opiâ—erque per Orbeâ—â— Dicor â—â—â—â—um subjâ—ctâ— potentia nobiâ— Metamorph lib. 1. introduces laying claim to the Invention of Physick and the Vertues of Plants We may pass the same censure upon the Apollo of Ovid and the rest of the Poets as upon the Prometheus of Aeschylus that he is a feignâ—d person by whom the Sun was signâ—â—â—ed To this Star they ascrib'd the rise of Physick or rather a power of Life and Death over Men to cause Pestilences and to disperse em for the Sun or its heaâ— were esteemâ—d the principle of Generation and Corruption in all things upon whose peculiar influence upon Animal Bodies and those that surround 'em Health and Diseases did immediately depend Hyginus refines very much upon this when he says (b) Fab. lib 1. That Apollo was the first Oculist alluding to the light of the Sun and the appellation given him by the Poets the Eye of the World For the same reason he is said to be the God of Divination because Light or the Day discovers what was hidden in the Night By this he became more famous than the others and his Temples were more frequented by those that came to know their Fortunes than to cure their Distempers Others have thought that the Art of Divination was joinâ—d to Physick upon the account of the Prognosticks of Physicians * This conjecture seems very natural but I doubt the Art of Divination will appear to have been separated from Physick before the latter arriv'd at any great skill in the Prâ—gnosticks of which we find â—otâ—ing before Hippocrates but what the Coacae Praenotiones câ—ntain which seem to be the collective Body of the knowledge of his Predecessors 〈◊〉 that â—ind I rather think that the Priests who were the first Prâ—â—es◠〈…〉 introducâ—d Divination first into Physick that they might supply their 〈◊〉 in the latter by the imaginary â—â—â—s of thâ— fâ—rmeâ— and support their credit jointly by both which they cou'd not by either apart by which they frequently foretel what shall befal the Patient in the course of his distemper which is what procures the greatest veneration for the Profeâ—â—ion It shou'd seem by the Etymology of the word Apollo which comes from a (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This etymology seems better grounded than that which deduces it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to expel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greek word signifying to destroy that the sick address'd themselves to him as much out of fear of mischief as hope of benefit as they rais'd Altars to the Fever Homer where he once calls Apollo Saviour of the People says a hundred times that he wounds and smites afar off He was Surnam'd likewise Alexicacos the Chaser of Evil but we find not that name in Homer He was call'd likewise (d) Others fetch this word from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to cease to put a stop or appease because appeas'd Diseases Paeon from a Verb which signifies according to some to heal but vulgarly to strike (e) Iliad Eustathius takes notice that Homer's PAEON the Physician of the Gods was Apollo himself It
to meddle therein under their Kings Priests and Grandees to whom it was permitted (x) Histâ— animal lib. 2. c. 18 Elian says the same of the antient Greece that none but Princes practis'd Physick meaning unquestionably the Princes and Heroes before-mention'd Jachen was undoubtedly of no less quality He was says Suidas a favourite of the Gods and very useful to Society who lived in the time of Senyes King of Egypt and who wrote very well of remedies drawn from Amulets and Charms Jachen adds he was very dextrous at curing diseases and cou'd stop the course of the Plagne and temper the sultry heat of the Dog-star for this a magnificent Tomb was rais'd to him whither the Priests repaired in all Epidemical Distempers and after the usual Sacrifices took Fire from his Altar with which they kindled Piles prepared in several parts of the City and thereby purg'd the Air of the Infection and stopt the progress of the distemper When this King and Physician liv'd is uncertain but they were apparently very antient In imitation of the Kings of Egypt their Neighbours the Kings of Judea applyâ—d themselves sometimes to the study of Philosophy and Medcine witness their great King Solomon of whom the Scripture says that he wrote five thousand Canticles and pronounced three thousand Proverbs that he knew from the Cedar of Libanus to the Hyssop that grows upon the Wall and that he wrote of Insâ—cts of Fishes of Birds and all other animals (y) Lib. 8. c. 2. Josephus enlarging upon this says that God endued this Prince with such understanding and wisdom that no other thro all antiquity was comparable to him that he surpass'd abundantly the greatest and most celebrated Egyptians He composed adds he five thousand Books of Songs and Verses and three thousand of Parables he wrote of natural history from the Hyssop to the Cedar and continued it thro all animals as well Birds as Fishes and those that live upon the Earth For God had given him a perfect knowledge of their Natures which he exercised in making Medâ—cines for the benefit of Men among which were some that had the vertue of casting out Devils so effectually that they dar'd not to return This way of casting 'em out is yet much in use with our Nation and I have seen one Eleazar a Jew in presence of the Emperor Vespasian his Sons Captains and Souldiers dispossess divers He hung at the nose of the Man possessed a Ring in which was set a Root which Solomon usâ—d to that purpose which as soon as the Devil smelt he threw the Daemoniack to the ground and quitted him He repeated afterwards certain words which Solomon left written and in his name forbad him to return But to show the effect of his charm more evidently he silled a Pitcher of Water and commanded the Devil to throw it down to demonstrate by that Sign that he had quitâ—ed the possessed which the Devil obeyed I thoâ—ght my self obligâ—d says the Author to make this relation that no one might doubt the extraordinary knowledge which God of his special Grace gave to Solomon (z) Vide lib. zeron Hamor The Rabbies say that Ezechias suppressâ—d those Books of Solomon because abundance put more trust in the power of the Herbs than of God * Trithemius mentions besides this three 〈◊〉 Books of Maâ—iâ—k Liber Lamene 2. Pentaâ—ulorâ— libeâ— 3. De Oâ—â—iâ—us Spiritâ—um Albertus mâ—â—nâ—s five mâ—re 1 Liber Almeâ—â—l 2. Liber novâ—m â—â—uni ruin 3. De novâ—m Candariis 4. De tribus figuriâ— Spirituum 5. De Sigissis ad Dae noniâ—câ—â— and seâ—â—â—al â—thers which 〈◊〉 all dâ—â—â—â—edly 〈…〉 The Book callâ—d Clavicula Solomonis which is said to be an imaginary Book yet is much sought after by those that are inquisitive after Magick supposes him to have written upon that subject Sufficient Apology has been made for him but this passage of Josephus shews that the Jews were strongly possessed with the opinion that Solomon used Superstitions remedies in the cure of diseases as the reciting certain words and applying a Ring which was a sort of Amulet as we have before taken notice It may perhaps be urgâ—d that t is not impossible that God shou'd have communicated this knowledge to Solomon but we find no examples of of any such cures in Holy Writ and the words which the Prophets and Apostles pronounc'd on the like occasions were only to signify their Commission and Power received from God to cure all diseases as In the name of God or of Jesus Christ be thou healed If they employ'd any matter or made any application it was of things common and well known without any manner of ceremony that might savour of superstition like the application of the Ring and Root before spoken of If Solomon did really stuff his Books with such remedies he had 'em not from Revelation as Josephus wou'd insinuate but from the correspondence he held with the learned Men of Egypt This Prince liv'd about a hundred and seventy years after the Siege of Troy I had forgot another argument of Solomon's knowledge of Physick or at least of the constitution of a human Body which is drawn from the following words of the 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor thy years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them While the Sun or the Light or the Stars be not darkned nor the Clouds return after the Rain In the day when the keepers of the House shall tremble and the strong men shall bow themselves and the grinders cease because they are few and those that look out of the Windows be dark'ned and the doors shall be shut in the Streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise up at the voice of the Bird and all the Daughters of Musick shall be brought low Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fears shall be in the way and the Almond Tree shall flourish and the Grashopper shall be a burthen and desire shall fail because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the Streets or ever the Silver cord be loosed or the Golden Bowl be broken or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain or the Wheel broken at the Cistern Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it 'T is easy to find that this is a description of old age managed after the oriental manner and of the several inconveniences that attend it till they at last are terminated by Death or the dissolution of the humane Body The Sun the Light the Moon and the Stars denote the Wit the Judgment the Memory and the other faculties of the Soul which daily decay in old men The Clouds and the Rain are Catharr â—s and Defluxions familiar to this Age. The Keeperâ—s of the House and the Strong men are
Guts the Liver the Spleen the Kidneys the Bladder the Matrix the Diaphragm the Heart the Lungs the Brain as well as the most sensible humours such as the Blood Cholar Melancholy Flegm the Serosities or Waters and all the different sort of excrements that proceed from several parts of our body It appears at first Sight that the Asclepiadae cou'd not know all this without being Anatomists or at least without having dissected Animals but 't is easy to demonstrate that they might attain to the knowledge of these things without it The first and most familiar instruction they had came from their Butchers and their Sacrifices and as for what relates to to a human body in particular they were glad of any opportunity to instruct themselves when they found any bones in the Fields that were stript of the Flesh either by Beasts or the length of time that these bodies had been expos'd to the air or when they found in some by places the carcass of some unfortunate Traveller that had been murder'd by Robbers or the bodies of Soldiers that died of the great wounds of they receivâ—d in Battel They consider'd them without giving themselves the trouble to make any other Preparation besides what they found ready made to their hands and took no notice of that scruple which forbad them to touch any dead body which they found by accident This was so great a scruple among the Ancients that it appears from a passage in Aristotle which we shall cite hereafter that in his time there was no dissection of human bodies Now this Philosopher liv'd above fourscore years after Hippocrates T is true indeed that the Egyptians as we have already taken notice having been accustomed of old to embalm dead bodies were furnishâ—d by this means with an opportunity to know the true disposition of some parts of the body which they must needs lay open when they separated them from others to preserve the rest and it might so happen that the Asclepiadae reapt some advantage by these discoveries of the Egyptians but as the chief intention of the latter was the preserving of Bodies so they scarce proceeded much farther than it was necessary for them to go on with their design I have thus recounted the several means by which these ancient Physicians discover'd the structure of bodies after the Death of the animal but the best School they had and indeed that which instructed them better than any of the rest was the Practice of their Professioâ— which daily gave them an opportunity to see in living bodies what they were not able to discover in the dead when they dressâ—d Wounds Vlcers Tumours Fractures Dislocations and perform'd other Chyrurgical operations And as Physick was preserv'd in the Family of the Asclepiadae for several Ages where it passâ—d from Father to Son so the traditions and observations of their Fathers and Ancestors supply'd the want of experience in each particular man This last opportunity joyn'd with the former has made several Physicians who livâ—d a long while after them and of whom we shall make mention hereafter to call it an easie and natural tho a long way to gain the knowledge of the humane Body maintaining that this way alone was sufficient for practice We shall find in the Fifth Book what were the reasons that induc'd them to this as likewise what other Physicians had to say upon this occasion CHAP. VI. Of those Physicians that were Philosophers and first of Pythagoras and Xamolxis his Slave HItherto as we have observ'd it does not appear that Reason had been very much consulted in Physick the whole knowledge of which Art seems to have totally consisted in discerning and knowing Diseases rather by their signs than by their causes and using a few simple Medicaments that were almost all taken from Herbs or the practice of some magical or superstitious Remedies The Philosophers were the first that interloping in this Art at the same time introduc'd the fashion of reasoning into it These Gentlemen added to it that part which is call'd Physiology and considers a humane body which is the subject of Physick such as it is in its natural state and endeavours to assign reasons for its functions and operations in examining the parts thereof and all that belongs to it by Anatomy and the principles of Physick Not that it appears by any of their writings or by the Titles of their Books that they had ever been what we call Practitioners Empedocles of whom we shall talk hereafter is the only man among them who is reported to have perform'd a cure All the rest appear to have devoted themselves rather to the Theory than Practice of Physick Pythagoras who liv'd about the lx Olympiad and founded the Italick School is the most ancient we know of those that began to take this Art into their consideration This Pihlosopher neglected no means nor opportunity to render his knowledge universal With this design he travell'd into Egypt which was the Country of Arts and Sciences and learnt all their curiosities 'T is very probable he borrow'd all the knowledge he had in Physick from thence of which we have nothing remaining but a few small fragments which however sufficiently discover a Spirit of superstition so remarkable in the preceeding Physicians as we have already observ'd that which relates to Physiology being very inconsiderable (a) Diogen Laert. Hist Philos Galen He believ'd that at the time of Conception a certain substance descended from the Brain which contain'd a warm vapour from whence the Soul and all the Senses derived their original while the Flesh the Nerves or Tendons the Bones the Hair and all the Body in general was made of the Blood and other Humours that meet in the Matrix He added that the Body of the Infant was formed and became solid in forty days but that eleven or nine or more generally ten months according to the rules of harmony were requisite to make him intirely compleat that all that happen'd to him during the whole course of his life was then regulated and that he carry'd it along with him in a Series or Chain proportion'd to the Laws of the same harmony above-mention'd every thing falling out afterwards necessarily in its own time At the end of this Chapter we shall examine what he meant by this He likewise asserted that the Veins the Arteries the Nerves are the cords of the Soul According to him the Soul spreads itself from the Heart to the Brain and that part of it which is in the Heart is the same from whence the passions proceed whereas Reason and the Understanding reside in the Brain This opinion which belongs in common to him and the sacred Writers perhaps came first from the Caldeans with whom he had convers'd As for the causes of Distempers he had learnt without question all that was believ'd concerning them in the same School and in that of the Magicians whom he had likewise consulted The Air said
less noble by the mothers side as being the 19th descendant from Hercules He was not content with learning Physick under his Father he had Herodicus above-mention'd for his Master in that faculty He was likewise the disciple of Gorgias the Sophist Brother to that Physician and according to some of Democritus the Philosopher as we gather from the above-cited passage of Celsus But if he learnt any thing of this latter t was in all probability by the conversations chiefly which he had with him when he was intreated by the Abderites to come and cure this Philosopher It is likewise credible that he was a follower of Heraclitus as we shall see hereafter If Hippocrates was not looked upon to be the first inventor yet all antiquity gives him this honour at least of being the first that re-established it after Esculapius and his Sons It may also be affirmâ—d that by the great reputation he acquir'd he has effac'd the glory of all that preceeded him except the God of Physick himself so that in the History of Physick we cannot conveniently stop any where between the God and him or make any considerable Epoch but in passing all at once from one to the other altho there was above seven hundred years difference between them Pliny makes Hippocrates the author of Clinic Physick which we have ascrib'd to Esculapius for 't is not probable that it was so long before the custom began of visiting the Sick in their bed but what distinguishes this Physician so eminently from those that came before is that according to the observation of the same author (b) Primus Hippocrates medendi praecepta clarissimè tradidit lib. 26. cap. 2 he is the first that clearly laid down the precepts of Physick reaping great advantage from the knowledge of the age he liv'd in and making Philosophy servicable to Physick and Physick to Philosophy (c) Lib. de decenti habitu We ought to joyn says the same Author Philosophy with Physick and Physick with Philosophy for a Physician that is a Philosopher is equal to a God Upon this account the (d) The Greeks called 'em 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reason or Ratiocination and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Opinion or doctrine The Empâ—i al Phâ—sician◠〈◊〉 claim to him likewise Dogmatick or Reasoning Physicians call'd so in opposition to the Empirics have unanimously own'd him for their head as being the first that assisted reason with experience in the practice of Physick The Philosophers mention'd by us in the preceeding Book were well enough vers'd in the art of reasoning but wanted experience or practice Hippocrates is the first person who possess'd both one and the other This may seem to contradict what I have already advanc'd upon the credit of Celsus viz. that Hippocrates separated Physick from Philosophy For a Salvo to this seeming contradiction we need only suppose that Hippocrates who was descended of a Family where he as it were suck'd in Physick with his Milk finding this Art in the hands of Philosophers who had lately engross'd it to the prejudice of the Asclepiadae thought there was no better way to support the declining honour of his house than by using his utmost efforts besides the knowledge deriv'd to him by tradition to acquire all that learning which gave these new Physicians so great a reputation in the world But after he had made himself Master of it he openly declar'd that altho the lights of Philosophy were very serviceable to give a man a just Idea of things and to conduct methodically and in the right way such as design'd to carry arts to perfection yet however that Philosophy was not sufficient of itself to perfect a man for all professions if he did not descend to the particulars which did not belong to its jurisdiction that Philosophy had nature in general for its object but that Physick in a special manner applies itself to nature as it had a relation to man whom she consider'd under the different circumstances of health and sickness that it did not follow that a man must be a Physician because he was a Philosopher unless he had study'd humane body in particular and instructed himself in the several changes that befall it and in the proper methods to preserve or restore that since 't is impossible to acquire this knowledge without long experience he ought to employ his whole time this way and quit the general name of a Philosopher for that of a Physician tho this oblig'd him by no means to forbear Philosophizing in his profession And this is what Hippocrates meant by joyning Philosophy with Physick and Physick with Philosophy CHAP. II. Of the Philosophy of Hippocrates IF we may believe (a) De Nat Facult lib. 1.8 2. De deecret Hipp. 5. Methâ—d med lib. â—e Element 9. Galen Hippocrates no less deserved the first place among the Philosophers than the Physicians He likewise affirms that Plato has rejected none of Hippocrates's opinions that the writings of Aristotle are only a Comment upon the Physiology of the latter and that Aristotle is nothing but the interpreter of Hippocrates and Plato from whom he borrow'd his Doctrine of the first qualities â—ot cold dry and moist T is true Hippocrates seems in some places to declare for the four Elements air water fire and earth This at least must be acknowledg'd that in his Book of the nature of man he opposes those Philosophers who only maintain one But he establishes another system in his first Book of Diet where he makes mention of no more than two principles fire and water one of which gives motion to all things and the other nourishment and encrease These contradictions with some others that we shall take notice of hereafter proceed from the many interpolations in the works of Hippocrates The passage we cited last is one of those which anciently were suppos'd to belong to another Author What is more certain and of greater importance to the business in hand Hippocrates makes it appear in most of his Writings that he acknowledges a general principle which he called nature to which he ascrib'd a mighty power Nature is of it self sufficient to every animal and that in all respects She performs every thing that is necessary to them without needing the 〈◊〉 instruction from any one how to do it Upon this foot as if nature had been a principle indued with knowledge he gives her the title of just he ascribes a (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Power Faculty or Virtue It is sometimes employ'd to signify the heighth of ' em virtue or virtues to her that are as it were her Servants (d) Lib. de alimento There is says he one only faculty and there are more than one 'T is by these faculties that all operations are perform'd in the bodies of animals They distribute the blood the spirits and heat thro all parts which by this means
of Conception and the formation of the Faetus in the Womb he pretends that the Seed both of the Male and Female being mingled in the Womb grow thick and hot or spirituous after which the Spirit contained in their Centre expandy it self and draws a part of the Air which the Mother breathes by means of which mixture these two Seeds in receiving refreshment are nourished or inflated till it forms about it self a small Pellicule which afterwards contains others under it which are all fix'd together At this time the blood of the Mother flowing into the Womb and fixing there produces a sort of flesh from the middle of which shoots the Navel which is a Pipe hanging down from these Pellicules by which the Faetus breathes is nourish'd and increases That the Faetus is nourished by the Navel is repeated (a) De Nat. Puer in more than one place yet notwithstanding this Hippocrates elsewhere affirms (b) De Carnib That it is nourished by sucking at the Mouth that otherwise it cou'd not have excrements when it came into the World in its Guts and would not so readily suck at the Breast if it had not before done something like it Hippocrates continuing to speak of the formation of the Child says That the flesh before spoken of being form'd the blood of the Mother which is drawn every day in greater quantity into the Womb by this flesh which breathes causes the Pellicules to swell and that it causes foldings in the outward ones which filling themselves with this blood produce what is call'd the Chorion Afterwards as the flesh grows the spirit distinguishes or disentangles the parts every one going towards its like the thick to the thick the clearer or thin to the thin the moist to the moist every thing repairing to its proper place or to the quarters of those of the same nature from whence they had their Origin so that what comes from the thick remains thick and the moist and the rest accordingly the heat after all bringing the bones to the hardness they are of After this the extremities of the body shoot outward like the branches of a Tree the Parts as well internal as external are better distinguished the Head erects it self above the Shoulders the Arms separate themselves from the Sides and the Legs spread themselves out the Nerves or Ligaments go to the Joints the Mouth opens the Nose and Ears shoot out of the Head and are perfected the Eyes are fillâ—d with a pure humour and the distinctions of Sex appear the Entrails are distinguished and ranged the Infant begins to breathe by the Mouth and by the Nose the Belly is fill'd with Spirit or Air as are the Guts also and the Air comes to them likewise by the Navel At length the Guts and Belly open so that a passage is made to the Anus and another from the Bladder outwards Hippocrates or the Author of this Book having reasoned thus of the formation of the body of a Child shews that Plants are produced after the same manner and explains their growth from Seeds by the same principles He hints likewise that Birds in the Egg have the same formation but inlarges not much thereupon The yolk of the Egg is according to him the matter of which they are produc'd and the white their nourishment From all which he concludes That Nature is the same and acts after a uniform manner in the generation of Men and Plants and whatsoever springs from the earth in which his opinion is the same with that of (c) See the Chapter of Empedocles Empedocles What Hippocrates says of the manner of his discovery that the mixture of the Seeds in the Womb is soon cover'd with a skin is pretty remarkable He had opportunity to inform himself therein by means of the advice he gave a Musicianess Slave who being gone six days to the great prejudice of her Voice and her Masters profit to leap several times upon the ground which she having done the Seed came away with noise It was like says he to a raw Egg without a shell the liquor of which was very transparent He saw there very fine white Fibres upon the Membrane which contained this liquor which being mix'd with a thick blackish red Matter which made the whole Membrane appear red there was in the middle of this Membrane something very fine which he took for the Navel and it was about the beginning of the place of the Origin of the Membrane The Author continuing to examine what happens to the Embryo in the Womb from the time that its body is form'd to the time of its birth says That the body of a Female has all its Parts distinct at the end of forty days at farthest and the Male at thirty For which he gives this reason That the Seed which produces a Female is more feeble and moist than that which produces a Male. He gives also another reason drawn from the time of Womens evacuations after Labour which for brevity sake we shall omit here He adds for the difference of Sexes That Males are begotten when the Seed of both Male and Female is vigorous and Females when their Seed is weaker or moister and has less heat He observes That the Males come from the right side of the Womb which is stronger and hotter and the Females from the left The Body of the Infant being thus rough drawn grows continually drawing to it self the most Oily part of the blood of the Mother which makes its bones become more hard the fingers part and nails come upon their ends hair upon their heads and other parts of their bodies After three months the Male begins to stir and the Female generally after four tho' there may be sometimes some variation The Infant being come to its just growth and bulk and not finding any longer sufficient nourishment from the Mother begins to stir violently and breaks the Membranes in which it was wrapp'd and so procures its exclusion which happens usually in the tenth month Being born it 's nourished with the Milk of its Mother or a Nurse The matter of which this Milk is composed is the most fat and oily part of the Aliment after this manner The Womb as it grows big presses the Omentum and Belly and by that compression obliges 'em to discharge their fat which is presently suckt into their Breasts the veins of which dilate themselves afterwards more and more by the sucking of the Infants This according to our Author is the manner of the formation and increase of Infants in the Womb and of their coming into the World which is to be understood of ordinary cases which exclude not the extraordinary ones whereof in some Books written for that purpose Hippocrates gives a particular Account Of the seventh and eighth Months Birth There are two Books one Intituled The seventh Months Birth and the other The eighth Months Birth The first of these Children may live and arrive at a
Animals are likewise reckon'd among these later Causes We shall not engage any further in the Causes of Distempers in particular that wou'd lead us too far out of our way And we may the more easily be dispens'd with because we shall have occasion to take notice of all that is proper here in the Article of Galen whose System is more clear and methodical than that of Hippocrates whose Principles he follows in almost every thing We shall take notice only of two things first the Relation that Hippocrates finds between some of the external and internal Causes For example he compares the four Humours with the four Ages of Man with the four Seasons of the Year and with the Climates Infancy the Spring and temperate Countries ought according to him to produce blood and by consequence more sanguine Distempers than Bilious Pituitous or Melancholick Youth Summer and hot and dry Countries produce Bile and all the maladies which spring from it Middle Age Autumn and Places of a heavy unequal Air cause Melancholy and melancholick distempers Old Age Winter and cold moist Countries produce Flegm and flegmatick Distempers He carefully examines what sorts of Food produce blood â—ile c. It treats also the effects of sleeps watchings exercise and rest and other external Causes afore-mentioned and all the benefit or mischief we may receive from them In the second place we shall take notice that of all the Causes Hippocrates makes mention of the two most general are Diet and Air which he examines with all the care possible First he has composed several books upon the subject of Diet only he has taken exact care to distinguish what is good and what is bad for the condition the Person is in And he was so much the more obliged to it because his method of Practice turn'd almost wholly upon it that is to say upon the choice of a certain Diet whether in respect of (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. de Alimento quality or (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. de Alimento quantity or time and the proper seasons of giving it as we shall see anon He consider'd also the Air very much and all that depended on it We have seen in the Lump what he thought of the four Seasons and several Climates He examined likewise what Winds ordinarily blew or extraordinarily The irregularity of the Seasons and even the rising and setting of (n) Lib. de Dâ—â—t lib. de acre c. lib. de humor lib. 4. de Morb. Aphorism 1. lib. 3. Stars or the time of certain Constellations as of the Dog-Star the North-Bear and the Pleiades as also the time of the Solstices and of the Equinoxes these days in his opinion producing great alterations in distempers of which he has not explain'd the manner From hence may be inferr'd that Hippocrates look'd upon the knowledge of Astronomy as necessary to a Physician and that he believed that the Stars had some influence over our Bodies With this agrees what he elsewhere says of the things of (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heaven which he numbers amongst the Causes of distempers and with what we have taken notice of before page the 9th That according to Hippocrates our health our life our death and all that respects our being depends upon things raised above us And it seems likely that he meant something like this when he talked of something (p) Prognost lib de Nat. Mulâ—ebr lib. de Morb. Sact. Divine in the Causes of distempers Some of his ancient Commentators believed that when he spoke after this manner he alluded to what was upon these occasions said by (q) What Galen means by saving That those that ascribe the Diseases to the Gods cite the Authority of those that wrote what they call Histories is hard to be undeâ—stood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Poets especially Homer who attributes to the wrath of the Gods the Diseases that befal Men. But Galen is not of their mind and he has reason to give them this reprimand (r) In lib. Progn com 1. That they that Comment upon or Interpret an Author ought not to say whatever themselves think true or what they think the Author ought to have believed but what is really his opinion whether true or false Galen maintains That Hippocrates no where attributes to the Gods the Cause of Distempers and he proves that Hippocrates was not of that opinion first for the reason he gives of some Symptoms of a particular distemper which he describes and of the name he gave that distemper He call'd those which were seized by it by a name which signifies (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. deratione vict in acut stricken undoubtedly from the vulgar opinion that those that were taken with it were in some manner struck by some (t) This must be the consequence of Galen's reasoning which otherwise is worth nothing Deity as it were by Thunder But Hippocrates expresly takes notice that the Ancients gave it this name because those that died of it had after their death their sides livid and mortify'd as if they had received blows He proves it in the second place from one of the Books of Hippocrates inscrib'd De Morbo Sacro that is of the Falling-Sickness wherein the Author endeavours to root out the vulgar prejudice that the Gods sent certain Distempers among Men. These Arguments of Galen may be supported by what Hippocrates says (u) Lib. de aere aquâ locis elsewhere of a distemper peculiar to the Scythians which pass'd for Divine of which we shall speak hereafter To return to the signification of what Hippocrates call'd Divine in Diseases Galen concludes that he meant no more than the Constitution of the Atmosphere which is equivocal because the Air may be disposed in so particular a manner that we may acknowledge something in it Supernatural This Sense follow'd by some of the Modern (w) Gorâ—haeus Fernel Commentators who think that the Divine of Hippocrates depended upon the qualities of the Air but upon such qualities as they call'd occult or hidden because they had no relation with the ordinary or those which were call'd first that is hot and cold dry and moist nor with any other known quality Yet this is not the meaning of Galen in this place nor of Hippocrates himself who seems to express himself in favour of the former opinion when he says in the Book cited last save one That the Disease call'd Sacred rises from the same causes that other distempers do that is from the things which go and come or which are subject to change such as the Sun the Cold the Winds which suffer perpetual vicissitudes Now tho' these things says he be Divine we are not to imagine this disease any more Divine than the rest but all diseases ought to be look'd upon as Humane and Divine at once It may perhaps be objected That it is doubtful who is the Author of this Book
â—s but his Son-in-Law Polibius's the proof will yet remain in full strength for this Author does not lay this down as his opinion only but as a notion generally establish'd Galen was obliged to declare against odd days for the same reasons he rejects the dignity of the number seven and other numbers which by the Pythagoreans were esteemed to have a certain virtue in themselves as being more perfect than the rest and altho' he allows that the Crisis falls out upon the seventh days yet he does not impute this effect to the power of the number but to the Moon which governs the Weeks which consists of seven daâ—s whether Hippocrates thought of the Moon 's influence upon this occasion but he talks in one of his Books before-cited (l) Dâ— partu Septimest of a harmony resulting from the union of certain numbers more entire and certain than the rest it shews plainly that he meant in the sense of Pythagoras which Celsus takes notice of when he says (m) Verum in his quidem antiquos â—uâ—c celebreâ— admodum Pythâ—goâ—ici numeri fefellerunt lib 3. cap. 4. That the Pythagorean numbers which were very much in vogue at that time that is in the time of Hippocrates mislead the ancient Physicians into Error But whatever was Hippocrates's opinion of the power of his odd and other Critical days he confesses that it falls out otherwise sometimes and he gives an instance of a salutary Crisis coming upon the sixth day and the like upon the fifteenth but these are very rare instances and therefore donâ—t overthrow the General Rule Before we quit this head we must take notice that besides the changes which determine the fate of the Patient Hippocrates speaks often of another sort of a change which is when the disease instead of terminating changes (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Species as when a Pleurisie turns to an inflamation of the Lungs a Vertigo to an Epilepsie a Tertian Fever to a Quartane or a continual c. CHAP. IV. Of other accidents or symptoms that accompany Diseases and those that happen before or after them Of the signs by which Hippocrates distinguishâ—d one from the other and knew beforehand what wou'd be the success or future event THE vast esteem Hippocrates gain'd is chiefly owing to his great Industry in strictly observing the most minute circumstances of Diseases and his exact care in nicely describing every thing that happenâ—d before and every accident that appearâ—d at the same time with them as also what gave ease and what increas'd the malady which is what we call the method of writing the History of a disease By these means he not only understood how to distinguish one disease from another by the signs which properly belong'd to each but by comparing the same sort of distemper which happen'd to several persons and the accidents which usually appearâ—d before and after he couâ—d easily foretel a disease before it came and afterwards give a right judgment of the success and event of it He seems also in (a) Lib. 1. dâ— diaeta sub princip a certain place as if he would insinuate that he is the greatest Physician that can put this in practice or can teach a method how to tell the Patient beforehand what shall happen to him in the course of his distemper which is what we call giving the Prognosticks of a disease T was by this way of prognosticating that he came to be so much admir'd by all the Ancients who without doubt were throughly convinc'd of that Maxim which he owes to himself viz. (b) Lib. praenotion in princip That that Physician who upon the appearance of some certain signs in a disease can tell his Patient what he has hitherto suffered and what will happen to him every day and after having received information from him he not only speaks further of those things he omitted before but also lays down beforehand what will come to pass 't is he shall have the reputation of knowing perfectly the condition of the Patient and make him entirely resign himself to his management And as it is not always in the power of the Physician to save the Lives of the sick for that reason Prognosticks will be serviceable in some measure to secure him from reproach Hippocrates understood so well the Doctrine of Signâ— that it may very well be said to be his Master-piece and Celsus makes this remark (c) Bâ—â—â—nsioâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Mediâ—i quamvis in curatioâ—ibus muâ—â—â—nt taâ—â—en â—â—â—c Hippâ—câ—atâ—m optime pâ—â—â—agisse â—aâ—eâ—ur Lib. 2. prafâ—â— That the Physicians that liv'd after him tho' they found out several new things relating to the management of diseases yet they were obligâ—d to the Writings of Hippocrates for what they knew of Signs You find a vast number of these Signs almost every where in his Writings but they are particularly collected in his Book of Aphorisms and three other Books that treat of nothing but that subject alone the Prenotions or Prognosticks the Predictions and the Coacae Praenotiones Galen because they were very faulty wou'd not allow the two last to be of Hippocrates's writing He adds further That what is valuable in them is taken out of the two first and from the Books of Epidemical Diseases notwithstanding many Learned Men both Ancient and Modern have writ Commentaries upon them and had 'em in great esteem To be able to make a tolerable guess from a Prognostick that is to say to be capable to tell beforehand that from the appearance of such and such a thing this or that shall necessarily follow the observation ought to be made from its seldom or never-failing one Experience alone or even 2 or 3 being not sufficient to give an Authority which cannot be said of all the Prognosticks of Hippocrates in general As to some of them one wou'd rather judge they were Remarks made in particular cases by those that exactly observ'd what happenâ—d to every Patient from the beginning to the end of his distemper and who by comparing what they saw first with what followed after thence concluded good or ill success This is what Galen hints at when he tells you that one part of these Prognosticks were abstracted from the Books of Epidemical Diseases He adds That if any one designâ—d to make himself Master of the Art of Prognosticating the success of Diseases he thought that the best means to succeed wouâ—d be to look into the Histories of them delivered to us by the most learned of the Faculty and from thence draw conclusions suitable to his intent This method in effect wouâ—d prove very good but to avoid the danger of being mistaken t wou'd be necessary to collect an infinite number of Observations on all distempers of what nature soever they are to be able to find out amongst them a sufficient number of cases exactly alike in every sort of disease so that he might speak for certain that in
day and let out abundance of blood as was necessary If he blooded upon the eighth day in the case here mentioned we have still more reason to believe he did it in the preceeding On the other side it is not probable that he should forget to mention it in a case wherein it was his ordinary practice especially when he puts down Remedies of much less importance not omitting so much as a Suppositor Since therefore says Galen there lies some difficulty upon either of these opinions we ought to determin for that which has least This being supposed I am of opinion that it was used to several of these Patients but that the mention of it was omitted in the History of their cases as a thing suppos'd of course And I rather subscribe to this Opinion because Hippocrates himself takes express notice of bleeding on the eighth day which I imagin he peculiarly remark'd because it was a thing against the usual practice supposing the mention of bleeding the preceeding days as being the common methods Most of the modern Commentators upon Hippocrates are of Galen's opinion But to this it may be answer'd that Hippocrates being very exact as Galen himself acknowledges even in the relation of the most Minute Medicines he us'd such as Suppositors 't is hard to think in this case he would omit the most considerable To this we may add that Galen himself maintains elsewhere that Erasistratus of whom we shall speak hereafter never blooded any body only for this reason that in ennumerating the Medicines he made use of in several occasions he makes no mention of bleeding If this Argument will hold against Erasistratus it will against Hippocrates Besides it was altogether of as great importance that we should be inform'd of the Remedies as of the Process of the distempers The symptoms which arise depending as much upon the practice of the Physician himself as upon the nature of the distemper In all probability where Hippocrates omits the mention of bleeding in any case he did not use it nor is this so much against his principles as Galen would insinuate On the contrary he follows him therein precisely as appears by what has been said already If Hippocrates had blooded his Patients plentifully in Fevers in the beginning of their illness as Galen pretends he would not perhaps have had the opportunity of seeing so many Fevers terminate by Crisis that is by natural Evacuation which come of themselves in certain days This Ancient Physician laid so much weight upon the assistance of Nature and the method of Diet which was his favourite Medicine that he thought if they took care to diet the Patients before-mention'd according to rule they might leave the rest to nature These are his true principles from which he never deviates so that his pieces of eâ—idemical diseases seem to have been compos'd only with an intention to leave to posterity an exact model of management in pursuance of these principles To return to the Rules that Hippocrates prescribes for bleeding (r) Galen Commentâ—on Aphor. 6. lib 6. 't is observable in all diseases which have their seat above the Liver he bleeds in the Arm or some of the upper parts of the Body but for those that were below it he open'd the Veins below as of the Foot the Ankle or the Ham. (s) De ratione victûs in â—cuâ—â—s sub â—inâ—m If the Belly was too Laxative and bleeding was thought necessary Hippocrates ordered the Looseness to be stopt before bleeding Almost all these instances hitherto regard scarce any thing but acute distempers We find several concerning chronical diseases A young man complaining of a great pain of his Belly with a great rumbling while he was fasting which ceased after eating This pain and noise continuing his meat did him no good but on the contrary he daily wasted and grew lean Several Medicines as well Purgers as Vomiters were in vain given him At length it was resolv'd to bleed him by intervals first in one Arm and then t'other (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till he was without blood Epidemic lib. 5. sub Principio till he had scarce any blood left which perfectly cur'd him Hippocrates let blood also in the Dropsie and even in a Tympany in both these cases he prescribes bleeding in the Arm (u) De affectionâ—â— In a disease arising from an over-grown Spleen which is attended by diverse other symptoms he proposes bleeding several times repeated at a Vein of the Arm which he calls the Splenatick Vein We shall speak more of this Vein hereafter He proposes in another place (w) De Morbis lib. 2. bleeding under the Tongue in a sort of Jaundice This perhaps was an Empirical Medicine grounded only upon experience for the use of which he could give no good reason and what confirms me in this opinion is that the Book wherein this remedy is mentioned is supposed to have been written by the Cnidian Physicians who as we have said before were Empiricks Or perhaps it might be grounded upon some reason which is lost to us because we have not the same Idea of the disposition of the Veins and their sympathy with the several parts of the body that the Antients had What Hippocrates advances elsewhere that if we burn in any one the Veins or Arteries of the Temples he can never procreate after seems to be founded upon no better reason We have as much reason to ask what particular communication there is between the Veins of the Temples and the Organs of Generation as between the Liver and the Spleen which are the parts affected in the Jaundice and the Veins of the Tongue This difficulty would lye as heavy upon us as the other if Hippocrates himself his not inform us (x) See for this the Chapter of the Anatomy of Hippocrates that the Seed which comes from all parts of the body and particularly from the Head passes or descends by the Veins of the Temples or behind the Ears so that when one burns those Veins one intercepts the passage of the Seed (y) See the list of diseases known to Hippocrates This opening of the Veins behind the Ears was as we have shew'd before a familiar practice among the Scythians by which they curâ—d themselves of a certain sort of a Sciatica There is no doubt but that bleeding as well as purging which are two Medicines whose effects are not easily to be accounted for must in many cases be Empirical remedies It was sufficient for Hippocrates and the rest of the ancient Physicians to know that they were serviceable in certain cases to induce them to the use of them in those cases tho ignorant of the reasons of their operations We see by what has been said concerning bleeding that there were some occasions in which he did not only bleed once in the course of a distemper but that he did it very largely continuing it sometimes even to swooning Sometimes he blooded
may see what sort of Compound Medicines Hippocrates used If the Book De Affectionibus be his we may infer from thence that he wrote particularly upon this subject The Author in that Book quoting others which treat of Medicaments only These Books bore the title of Pharmaca and Pharmacitis says our Author ut Scriptum est in Pharmacis that is in Libris De Pharmacis Agentibus The word Pharmacitis is an Adjective to which the Substantive Liber which is understood must be joyned Pharmacitis Liber the Book of Medicines But this Book has been ascrib'd to Polybius Son-in-law to Hippocrates and it is remarkable that these Books or this Book of Medicaments is cited no where else by Hippocrates Galen observes that those sort of Books were very rare in those days because the Ancient Physicians used to give a Receipt of the Medicines they used with the History of the distemper they used them for Another thing which is worth our Observation is that the compound Medicines of Hippocrates were but very few and consisted of very few Simples four or five at most We find indeed in Actuarius the description of a very compounded Antidote which he calls Hippocrates's Antidote for which he says the Athenians presented him with a Crown But this is plainly a fiction and one of the specious Titles the Greeks used to give to their Medicines to promote the sale of which we shall see more examples hereafter Here we must take notice that Hippocrates understood Pharmacy or the Art of Compounding or Preparing Medicines (w) Lib. de Theriaca ad Pison This Galen endeavours to prove from a passage of the second Book of the Epidemicks where he introduces Hippocrates speaking after this manner (x) This passage is very obscure as we find it in Hippocrates and Galen or the Author of the Book cited by us giveâ— it us very different from what it is in our Originaly We know the nature of Medicines whereof so many different things are compounded for all are not compounded alike but some after one manner and others after another Some simples ought to be boylâ—d quick others slowly They are likewise differently prepared Some are dry'd some are stampt some are boiled c. The last observation we shall make upon the Pharmacy of Hippocrates is that he not only understood the preparation of Medicines but that he prepar'd them himself or in his own House by his Servants after his own directions This was the practice of the Physicians of those times when neither Pharmacy nor Surgery were become particular professions CHAP. XXIII A List of the Simples us'd by Hippocrates A AGnus Castus Alica Alom Alom of Egypt Scissil Alâ—m Burnt Alom Almonds Amomum * Anagallis Anagyris Alkanet * Ammoniac Gum. Aneth Anise Anthemus or Anthemis Asparagus After-birth humane Asphodil Atriplex * Amber Ass its Dâ—ng Ash-tree Apples B Brass and its Rust Filings Scales and Calx Birthwort Baccharis * Butter Blites Bulbus albus Bulbus parvus growing among the Corn. Bembylium a sort of Melissa Erot. Bryony Buprestis the name both of a Plant and an Animal Beetles Beans Basil Barley Achilles's Barley Bramble Bulls Gall Liver and Vrine C CLivers Goosegrass Cachrys Calamint Calamus aromaticus Cantharides * Capers Cardamomes Casia Castor Cedar and its Rosin Centaury Chalcitis Chamaeleon Chondrus Coleworts Chrethmus Chrysocolla Chrysitis Cinnamon Cneorum Cnidia Grana Cnicus Colocynthis Cucumbers Garden and wild Conyza Coriander Crateogonon Cresses Cumine vulgar and Ethiopian Cyclamen Cyperus Cypress Cytisus Cravfish Cheese Clary Carrots Cinquefoil Cuttle-fish its Bones and Eggs. Chalk D DOg. Daphnoides Daucus Dittany Dittany of Crete Dracontium Dracuncunculus Docks E EBony Elaterium Epipetrum Erviolum Ervum Erysinum Evanthemum Eggs. Elder F FRankincense Frankincense granulated Flower or Meal of several sorts of Grain fine and course Fenugreek Fennel Ferula Fig-tree Garden and wild its Leaves Wood and Fruit c. Frogs Feverfew Fox Dung G GArlick Goose Grass Clivers Goat the Milk Dung Excrements of the Skin Fat and Horns Gourds Gall of Oxen Swine Sea Scorpion c. Galba num Galls Nuts Glans Egyptia Grapes and the mass of 'em after pressing H HEmlock Horns of Oxen Goats and Deer rasp'd and burnt Hellebore white and black Heath Herb Charien Hedgehog Sea Hedgehog Hippomarathrum Hippophae Holoconitis Hyssop vulgar and Cilician Hare's Wool Hemp. Honey Honey of Cedar I JUncus odoratus Iris. Isatis or Wood. Ivie L LOadstone Lettice Lagopyrus Laserpitium Laurel Lentills Lentiscus Lees of Wine Lees of Wine burnt Lotus Lupines Lapis Cyanaeus Magnesius Leeks M MArsh Mallow Mugwort Mushromes Milk Asses Cows Mares Bitches Mastick Tree Mastick Malicorium Mandrake Mallow Meconitis a Meconium purgans Meconium somniferum Meconium an excrement Melanthium Melilot Mint Mercury the Herb. Mulberries Millet Minium Misy Modus a root Molybdaena Moss Mustard Mules Dung Myrica Myrrh Myrrha Stacte Myrtle Myrtidanum N NArcissus Nardus Nitre Nitre red Nuts Thasian Nettle Navelwort O ONions Orache Oats Oak Oyl Oenanthe Oesype Olive Wood Leaves Gall Fruit Stones and Oyl Origanum Orobus Orpiment Orpine P PImpernel Parsley Bastard Pomegranate Pepper Panax b Poppy Peplium Peplus Pompions Parsley Parsley curled Pencedanum Poplar Phaseolus Philistium Pine and its Kernel Peony Pears Pease and dry Purslan Pitch Prassium Pseudodictamnus Pennyroyal Q QUick Lime R RAisins Rhadish Ranunculus Root white Resine Rhamus Rhus Ricinus Rocket Rose Rosemary Rubia Rue S SOthernwood Silver and its Flower Spices of all sorts Stag its horns c. Services or Sorb Apples Sea water Succory yellow Sheeps Fat Marrow and Dung Saffron Sagapenum Sandarach Gum. Savoury Savin Sage Sâ—â—mmony Squills Scolopendrium Salt Saâ—â—â—f Thebes Seseri Sesamum Sesamoides Spodium Sulphur Stavesacre Staebe Struthium Stybis Styrax Soot Sea Calfs Lungs Spelt T THorn white Thorn Egyptian Turnep Turpentine Teda Terra Aegyptiaca Terra nigra Samia Thapsia Thlapsi Time Thymbra Tithymalus Tithymalis Torpedo Tortoise Tragus Tribulus Trefoil Trigonum V VIper Verbascum Verdegrise Verjus Vine it 's Wood Leaves and Tendrels Vinegar Violets white blue Urine W WOrmwood Wax white Wax Wheat Whey Worms Wine of several sorts X XAnthium Z ZEa These are the names that occur in Hippocrates except perhaps a very few which may have escap'd our notice The Greek like most other Languages having suffered great alteration and the names of diverse Plants being chang'd it became within 2 or 3 Ages different to determin what Plants Hippocrates design'd by some of 'em but the number of 'em is so small that the loss is not very considerable CHAP. XXIV Some instances of particular Cures of some Diseases both Acute and Chronical WE shall find here besides the practice of the general rules before laid down several particular Medicines of which no mention has been made We have already seen Hippocrates's distinction between Fevers that were not symptomatical but were of themselves the original distemper and those which attended inflamations We have observ'd that in the first sort of Fevers Diet
Barly-meal Wheat-flower Goats Milk Cheese all made into a kind of (g) See the Chap. of Diet Ciceon Besides these Remedies which Hippocrates used in the beginning of the distemper he apply'd likewise under the Breasts a large (h) Aphorism 50. Sect. 5. Cupping Vessel but when the Flux of blood began to diminish and stop intirely he us'd the following Remedies He gave purges and vomits and us'd lenifying and restringent Fomentations below which was succeeded by a Cataplasm made of the Meal of Spelt with the Bran of Wild Figs and Olive Leaves After this he came to Cows Milk either raw or boiled according to the condition of the Patient Further he recommends the seeds of Erisimum parch'd and drank with Wine Perfume consisting of Vinegar Sulphur Spelt Myrrh (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This last in my opinion was the name of some Plant. and the fruit of the Serpent These latter Remedies relate to a particular sort of bleeding which he says come from the places below the (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This word signifies several things in Hippocrates and t is not always casâ—e to guess what he means by it See the word â—ungs in the List of Diseases Articulations In another place he reckons hemlock among those inward Medicines Take says he as much hemlock as you can with three fingers and drink it with water We shall make some reflections upon these Medicines in the Chapter of Heraclides of Tarentum Those fluxes of blood which were accompanied with an ill smell sharpness pain and other symptoms were cured much after the same manner He gave white Hellebore and afterwards some other purge and then used the same astringents and lenifiers as before We must not here forget besides the Fomentations he recommends the use of Clysters or Injections for the Matrix in case of Ulcers and some other disorders of that part these consisting of the same ingredients with the Cataplasms Fomentations and Pessaries He used also in this cure Asses Milk advising also by way of Diet Herbs that were not biting clammy Fish boyl'd with Onions and Corriander-seeds in sweet oyly pickle Swines Flesh Lamb or Mutton rather boyl'd than roasted to drink small White Wine with a little Honey not to use too much nor too hot bathing The Matrix at length being sufficiently moistned and the Acrimony of the humours taken off he forbad bleeding absolutely and clos'd all with a course of restringent Medicines such as before-mentioned CHAP. XXV Of the Chyrurgery of Hippocrates (a) See mâ—re of this in the general Mâ—xims of the practice of Hippocrates WHere Medicines failed he had recourse to the Knife and where the Knife was unserviceable he sought Remedies from Fire Hippocrates had from Chyrurgery these two last Remedies or the manner of using them and several other ways of relieving men against their distempers He practised Pharmacy by Chyrurgery The same person in those days exercised all parts of Physick in general and he that advised a Medicine or an Operation prepar'd and perform'd them himself or at least caus'd them to be prepar'd or perform'd by his Servants that work'd immediately under his eye and direction This Galen takes notice of and it is apparent from the bare reading the works of Hippocrates In the Oath which he exacts of his Scholars he obliges them not to Cut for the Stone but to leave that operation to those who made a particular profession of it which supposes that the exercise of all other branches of Surgery was allow'd of One of his Books likewise treating only of things relating to Surgery is call'd the (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See below towards the end of the first Book of the second part Physicians repository and not the Surgeons which ought to have been the Title if Surgery in those days had been a distinct Art from that of Physick But instead of that (c) We often find in Hippocrates the following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which somewhat resemble that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but don't exactly signify the same thing the first of which words are used by our Author to signify the action or manner of operating whereas the latter altho as we have observ'd before in the Chapter of Chiron it signifies in strictness operation of the hand yet has been given to the art itself which teaches the manner of operating and not to the action or operation itself Surgery had not so much as a particular name or at least was not known by that name nor is it to be found any where in the Works of Hippocrates nor did begin to be in use till the time of the division of Physick of which we shall speak hereafter But names altering not the nature of things however the Art which teaches to cure distempers by Manual Operations was call'd Hippocrates unquestionably was Master of it and it made up a great part of his practice in general We have seen before that he burnt or cauterized the Breast and Back of Pthisical men and those whose Spleen was over-grown The Instruments he made use of for this end were sometimes (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. an Instrument proper to burn red hot Irons sometimes Spindles of Box steept in boyl'd Oyl sometimes a sort of Mushrooms which be burnt upon the part and sometimes what he call'd Linum Crudum He made great use of all those ways of burning in all fixed pains settled in a particular part As for instance in the Gout or Sciatica he burnt the Toes Fingers and Hips with Linum Crudum A famous (e) Doctor Sydenham English Physician not long since dead compar'd this way of cauterizing to that of the Indians with a sort of Moss call'd Moxa but he was mistaken in it He was led into this errour by the ordinary interpreters of Hippocrates who by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Linum Crudum understand Flax whereas the Greek word signifies Cloth made of Flax which has never been whitened The learned (f) See the sixth Book of the Varia Lectiones of Mercurialis Ch. 2 Athenaeus lib. 9. Eustathius in Odyss lib. 5. Hesychius Phavorinus and other Lexicographers Mercurialis who was was no stranger to this latter signification did nevertheless believe that in this place by burning with Linum Crudum Hippocrates meant with Stupes or sine Flax but 't is more probable that the Ancient way of cauterizing with Linum Crudum or rather with new flaxen Cloth was the same with that in practice at present in Aegypt (g) De Medicin Aegypt lib. 3. cap. 12. The Egyptians says Prosper Alpinus Rolled a little Cotton in a piece of Linnen in the form of a Pyramid and setting fire to the Cone of the Pyramid apply'd the bases upon the place to be cauterized In this operation it is not the fire only which burns the Caustic Oyl which distils along the Linnen contributes very much to it Cauterizing was so
distempers are judgâ—d more by conjecture than Art tho in this case those that have experience are preferrable to those that have not (m) De victus ratione in acutis One Physician often approves what another does not This exposes their Art to the calumny of the people who therefore imagining it to be altogether vain compare it to that of the Augurs of whom one says of the same Bird that if it appears on the Left side it is a good omen if on the Right a bad one and others the quite contrary (n) Praeceptiones We ought never to warrant the success of a Medicine for the minutest circumstances cause the distemper to vary and make 'em sometimes more tedious and dangerous than we expected (o) Lib de arte The end of Physick is absolutely to cure Diseases or at least to abate their violence but those that are desperate ought never to be undertaken that is where the distemper is of it self incurable or become so by the total destruction of the Organs for Physick reaches not so far (p) Lib. de decenti habitu A Physician ought to visit his Patients frequently and to be very attentive to every thing (q) Lib de medico 'T is requisit for the credit of a Physician that he should have a healthy look and a good complexion for men are apt to suspect that he that has not his own health can scarce be instrumental to procure it to another in the same case (r) Ibid de decent habitu A Physician ought to be decent in his habit grave in his manners moderate in all his actions chast and modest in the conversation he is obligâ—d to have with Women no loiterer ready to answer every body with candour sober patient ready to do his duty without disturbing himself (s) â—â—â—â—ceptiones 'T is no dishonour to a Physician when he is in doubt about the method of treating his Patient in any case to call in other Physicians and to consult with them what is to be done to the benefit of the Patient (t) Ibidem In point of Fees a Physician ought to be honest and good natur'd and to have a regard to the ability of the Patient On some occasions he ought neither to ask nor expect a Fee especially if the Patient be a poor man or a stranger whom he is obliged to relieve There are other occasions wherein the Physician may agree with his Patient before hand for his reward that the Patient may with more confidence commit himself to his care and be assurâ—d that he will not desert him (v) Dâ—prisca medicina Those that thought Physick an invention that deserv'd to be attributed to the Gods have not only followed the common opinion but in my mind right reason also This is what Hippocrates says of Physick in general From whence we may draw two inferences of importance to our History First That there were a great number of Physicians in his time although but few good ones Secondly That the use of Consultations was also then establish'd And lastly That Physick was even then exposâ—d to detraction and calumny as well as since CHAP. XXVII Of the Writings of Hippocrates COncerning the Writings of this Ancient Physician there are three things chiefly to be observ'd First The esteem they have always met with Secondly The distinction between those Writings which are legitimate and those that are supposititious Thirdly His Language and Stile In the first place the Writings of Hippocrates have been always had in particular veneration Galen says that what Hippocrates has deliver'd has always been esteemed as the word of a God and assures us that if what he writ be a little obscure thro his brevity or if he seems in certain places to have omitted some little things he has nevertheless written nothing which was not very much to the purpose The Works of Hippocrates says Suidas are very well known to all that study Physick we have such a respect for them that they think what he has said to come out of a Divine Mouth and not a Human. A plain mark of the esteem that all Ages have had for the Writings of Hippocrates is that there is scarce any Author who has had so many Commentators Amongst the most Ancient of them Galen speaks of one Asclepiades Rufus Ephesius Sabinus Metrodorus Satyrus Heraclides Tarentinus Heraclides Erythraeus and one Zeuxis to whom we may add Galen himself and Celsus who have often translated him word for word We shall mention another party of these Authors in the sequel He has had undoubtedly several others among the Ancients without reckoning those that explain'd his obscure words as we shall see by and by And the number of the Moderns is greater as we shall shew in its proper place To come to the distinction of the true Writings of Hippocrates from the spurious we shall begin with a List given by Erotian This Author who liv'd under Nero distinguishing the Books of Hippocrates or those which past for such in his time according to the subject of which they treated ennumerates the following The Books says he which relates to the Doctrine of signs are the Book called the Prognostick two Books of Predictions which two latter are not Hippocrates 's as we shall shew hereafter and the Book of the Humours The Books which relate to Physick and which are the most rational are the Book of the winds of the Nature of Man of the Epilepsie of the Nature of Children of times and seasons The Books concerning the manner of treating distempers are the Book of fractures of the articulations of ulcers of wounds and darts of wounds of the head of the Physicians repository that called Mochlicus of the Emeroides and Fistula's of diet two of diseases of Ptisan of the laces or parts in man two Books of Womens distempers one of barren Women one of Nourishment and one of Waters The Aphorisms and six Books of Epidemick diseases treat of mixt matters Those which follow concern the Art in general the Book entituled the Oath that called the Law and that of the Ancient Physick As for his Ambassadors Speech and the Speech at the Altar they serve only to prove the kindness of Hippocrates to his Country but concern not Physick at all Galen speaks of one Artemidorus Capito and one Dioscorides both of Alexandria who collected and published the works of Hippocrates together He adds that this Edition had the approbation of the Emperor Adrian under whom they livâ—d and who had a great affection for Physick However Galâ—z taxes them with taking too much liberty and changing several words of the Text which they did not understand VVe don't certainly know whether the Catalogue of the Books of Hippocrates publish'd by these Authors were greater than that which Erotian gives us but t is probable it was since Galen who follow'd them very near mentions several Books of Hippocrates's or that past
we should have had no occasion to complain of his brevity The letter directed to Dionysius is yet more merry than t'other He desires him to come to his house while he should be with Democritus For all the letters run upon this voyage of which it seems he was to inform the whole world before hand and to have an eye over the conduct of his wife * That shâ— play no pranks in his absence she has been very well brought up by her father says he but the Sex is frail and had need be kept within their duties in which a friend may succeed better than relations c. We 'll content our selves with these two samples by which the reader may judg how they agree with the gravity of Hippocrates As to the letters which Democritus and Hippocrates wrote one to another there are two of the former in one he speaks of the voyage that Hippocrates made to see him and to give him Hellebore having been call'd to that purpose by Democritus his fellow Citizens who took him for a mad man because he liv'd in a solitary place and laughed and did not mind those that came to see him You found me says Democritus writing of the order of the World of the disposition of the Poles and the course of the stars and you judg'd thereby that those that sent for you were fools and not I. Thereupon Democritus delivers in two words his opinion in Philosophy concerning the Images or Species diffused thro' the air of which his books as he says makes mention He tells Hippocrates afterwards that a Physician ought not to judg of his Patient by the aspect only for in that case he Democritus should have run the risque of passing for a mad man in his judgment He concludes with telling Hippocrates that he had sent him back the book which this Physician had written concerning madness which book is immediately annexed after this letter It consists but of one page which is nothing but a repetition of some lines of Hippocrates's book of the falling sickness which is likewise cited in this The second letter or the second book of Democritus address'd to Hippocrates is intituled of the nature of man which is the title of a book written by Hippocrates which has been ascrib'd to Democritus as we have already observed This book or letter is very near twice as long as the former It contains an enumeration of the principal parts of the body and the offices they perform There is nothing in it that deserves our observation except what he says of the Spleen that it sleeps and is good for nothing which opinion we shall see confirmâ—d (d) See the Chapter of Aristotle and that of Eratistratus hereafter There is but one letter of Hippocrates to Democritus now extant which is much shorter than the two abovementioned In the beginning of it he tells him that if the Physicians at any time succeeded in this art the people ascribed it to the Gods but if they miscarried they used to lay the blame upon them I have says Hippocrates got more scandal than honour by my practice and tho' I am advanced in years yet I have not attained to perfection in this art and even Aesculapius himself the inventer of it never carried it so far After this he takes occasion briefly to mention his journey to Democritus testifies for him that he is far from being mad and desires him to write to him often and to send him the books he had composed The letters of Hippocrates to Damagetus give a more particular account of his conversation with Democritus when he went to cure him one of them is very long in it he gives Damagetus an account of his voyage and all that happen'd to him till his return We have already seen in the preceeding book the occasion of this journey and the success of it I shall say no more of it for fear of being thought too prolix only give me leave to remark that these letters have nothing of the stile of Hippocrates It may be easily imagined that the pretended madness of Democritus and the journey with Hippocrates undertook with a design to cure him afforded matter enough to make a sort of a Romance To conclude I don't know who this Damagetus was The letter to King Perdiccas is of the same stamp with the rest that is to say equally spurious We there find as well as in that which is address'd to King Demetrius some Anatomical observations and some maxims relating to Physick which however don't deserve to be taken notice of except a few that are drawn out of the writings of Hippocrates The small book of Purgatives contains some necessary precautions to be observed in the taking of them It seems more probable that it is a collection of precepts given by Hippocrates upon this subject than a genuine work of that ancient Physician The life of Hippocrates written by Soranus contains besides what has been said in the beginning of this book an account of his countrey his extraction the time of his birth his studies and his masters in short an abridgment of the most remarkable things that happen'd to him in the course of his profession till his death Hippocrates says Soranus having lost his father and mother quitted his own countrey and fixed in Thessaly (e) We shall hereafter speak of this Physician Andreas in his book of the Original of Physick maliciously reports that the reason of it was because he had set the Library at Cnidus on fire Others write that the occasion of this journey was to learn the practice of other places and to furnish himself with an opportunity of understanding his profession better by the different cases that daily came before him But Soranus of Cos pretends that Hippocrates was influenc'd by a dream to make his abode in Thessaly He made himself continu'd this Author to be admir'd by all Greece through which he travell'd and practis'd Physick One day amongst the rest being call'd conjointly with Euriphon another Physician but older than himself to a consultation about Perdiccas son to Alexander King of Macedonia whom they gave out to be sick of a hectick feaver he soon found out that this Prince's mind was more indisposed than his body and as he carefully watched all his actions observing that he chang'd colour at the sight of Phila Mistress to the King his father he judged that he was in love with her and found the means to cure him by letting this fair one know the dangerous effects of her beauty He was also desired by the people of Abdera to come and cure Democritus of his madness and to free their City from the plague After this Soranus informs us how he refused to come to the Illyrians and even to the Court of Artaxerxes where this latter sickness raged how he hindred the war which the Athenians were going to make upon the Inhabitants of Cos by calling the Thessalians to their relief
was broke And (g) Nam Hippocrates clarus arte medicinae videtur honestissime fecisse qui quosdam errores suos ne posteri errarent confessus est Quintilian commends him upon the score of this very same ingenuity Neither do we find that he was afraid to cite examples of such patients as dyed under his hand Of two and forty sick men whose distempers he describes in the first and third Book of Epidem Diseases only seventeen escaped all the rest dyed For this reason we may believe him when he tells us in the second book of the abovemention'd Treatise as he takes occasion to speak of a certain sort of Quinsie that was accompany'd with ill symptoms that all the persons he ever saw sick of it recovered again If they had dyed continues he I should have certainly told it We may discover by this the character of an honest man and indeed it is visible in all the maxims which we have already cited as likewise in those comprehended in the Oath (h) See in the following Book the Chapter of the Disciples of Hippocrates which he demanded of Disciples the substance whereof is as follows that a Physician is obliged to honour the person who teaches him this art as his own natural father to let him participate of all that lyes in his power in relation to the necessaries of life to respect his children or his posterity like his own brothers and to teach them Physick in his turn if they have a design that way without asking any gratuity to communicate to them all that he knows in the same faculty as well as to his own children and to all such as will bind themselves by this Oath but not to others to order his patients such a (l) This comprehends all that a Physician is to do for his patient See the Chapter of Diet. regimen as he shall judg most convenient for them and to the utmost of his power hinder them from any thing that may hurt them never to give poyson to any one or advise others to do it not to give women remedies to procure abortions but to follow his profession like an honest man not to cut any one for the Stone in the bladder but leave the operation to those that make it their profession that whatever house he comes into he shall only do it with a design to cure the sick and behave himself so that they shall not have any matter of suspicion against him or be able to accuse him of doing the least injury to any one whatever particularly of having abused any wife or woman or young man whether free or slave in short that he will take care to keep secret and to conceal whatever he sees or hears while he is concern'd or otherwise when he shall judg that it is a thing which ought to be published The conclusion is that he wishes all manner of prosperity to him in this practice if he keeâ—s his Oath religiously and quite the contrary if he is perjur'd The person that takes this Oath swears by (k) See for this Lib. 1. Apollo the Physician by Aesculapius by Hygia by Panacaea and by all the other Gods and Goddesses Hippocrates has been reproached with violating this oath himself as to that which relates to the procuring of abortions We have spoken of this case already but the book from whence this story is borrowed is said to have been written by Polybus I don't know how to excuse this fact any other way This is not the only accusation that has been urg'd against Hippocrates Some have charged him with setting the Library at Cnidus on fire It has been likewise pretended to decry his reputation that he (l) Plin. Lib. 29. Cap. 1. See Book 1. above prescribed no remedies but such as he copied out of Esculapius's Temple in the Isle of Cos making them pass for his own which he was the easier able to do since the Temple was burnt down soon after he had committed this piece of Plagiarism 'T is true indeed that Hippocrates orders those that are troubled with a Peripneumony to take (m) See the Chapter of the Cure of Diseases in the third Book Pine Apples and Honey which is the very same remedy that Esculapius prescribes in this case as we have seen already 'T is likewise certain that Hippocrates advised ptysical people to eat fat and salted meats as Esculapius counsels them to eat Bacon But after all if Hippocrates was lineally descended from this God he might easily enough come to the knowledg of these remedies either by tradition from his Ancestors the Asclepiadae who were all Physicians without being obliged to copy them in the Temples of Aesculapius Among the things that have been said against Hippocrates we don't comprehend what the Physicians of following ages have urged to confute his opinions or to destroy the credit of his method All which we shall examine as occasion presents it self CHAP. XXX Of Phaeon Euryphon Philistion Ariston Pythocles Philetas Acumenus Aegimius Physicians contemporary with Hippocrates 'T is not to be question'd but that there were several Physicians in the time of Hippocrates The number of Physicians or at least of those that bore that name was always great Hippocrates has observ'd it himself where he says that there were several Physicians by name but few that were so in reality But we scarce know any of either sort that lived at the same time with Hippocrates his reputation having wholly effaced theirs Galen mentions four Physicians who he says lived partly before Hippocrates and partly at the same time Their names are Phaon or Phaeon Euryphon Philistion and Ariston I don't know who the first was As for Euriphon of Cnidus he must needs be older than Hippocrates since he passes for the Author of the Cnidian Sentences that are cited by Hipocrates However Soranus makes both of them meet at a consultation in Perdiccas's Pallace as we have already shown As for Philistion he might very well pass for the contemporary of Hippocrates since he was the master of Eudoxus the Cnidian who flourished in the CIII Olympiad of whom we shall speak hereafter This Physician I mean Philistion was of Locri or as some say born in Sicily I know nothing of his opinions but that he believed with Hippocrates (a) Aut Gellius lib. 17. Cap. 11. that there was a passage for part of what we drink thro' the lungs Neither do I know who was the brother of Philistion whom (b) Tardar pass lib. 2. Cap. 1. Caelius Aurelianus cites without naming him otherwise Philistion has likewise written a treatise of Cookery as Athenaeus has observed and as we shall have occasion to show in the Chapter of Diocles in the following Book Ariston has passed for the Author of Hippocrates's Book of Diet. Diogenes Laertius speaks of six men that have bore this name without reckoning the father of Plato but says nothing that one of them was a Physician
In the seventh Book of Epidemical Diseases there is mention just made of one Pythocles of whom it is reported that he gave his Patients water or milk mingled with a great deal of water To these we may joyn the (c) See the Phaedrus of Plato and Xenophon of the sayings and deeds of Socrates Physician Acumenus a friend of Socrates of whom Plato and Xenophon talk very advantageously All that these Authors report of his opinions is that he looked upon a walk in the open air to be much better (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We have translated these words after the sense of Mercurialis which seems to be just than in Portico's and other covered places There remains an ancient Physician named Aegimius of Velia or Elis who according to Galen was the first that writ about the Pulse altho' the title of his Book was about (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cal. de differ Puls lib. 4. Palpitation because at that time Pulse and Palpitation signified the same thing as we may gather from some passages in Hippocrates where the latter of these words signifies exactly the same with the former If this Aegimius was not cotemporary with the abovementioned he lived at farthest in the time of Diocles or Praxagoras of whom we shall speak in the following Book THE HISTORY OF Physick PART I. BOOK IV. Of what happen'd relating to this Art from the death of Hippocrates to Chrysippus exclusively CHAP. I. Thessalus and Draco the Sons of Hippocrates Polybus his Son in law some others of his descendants and some persons of the same name with Hippocrates HIppocrates left two sons Thessalus and Draco who followed the profession of their Father and a daughter that was married to one Polybus who was likewise a Physician His two sons had each of them one to whom they gave the name of their father and this name was in such esteem in the family that there were no less then (a) Suidas See the Chapter of Praxagoras below seven one after another who bore it who were all Physicians Hippocrates's eldest son was of greatest reputation He spent the greatest part of his life (b) Galen in lib. Hippocr de nat hum Comm. 1. in the Court of Archelaus King of Macedonia To him as likewise to his brother and even to their children were attributed some of the Books found in the Collection of Hippocrates ' even before the time of Galen who calls Thessalus an Admirable man (c) Galen ibid Polybus also rose to great reputation and continued to teach the scholars of his father-in-law There are yet some books remaining under his name one of which treats of the means of preserving health others of diseases and one of the nature of the seed which agrees almost in every thing with Hippocrates 'T is very probable that these books likewise are suppositious Those which were found amongst the works of Hippocrates and which were anciently ascribed to Polybus do him more honour being as we have observed before of all the books father'd upon Hippocrates those wherein the reasoning is most exact and most coherent From one of these books entituled of the nature of the Foetus is drawn the greatest part of what we have before laid down concerning the manner of conception or of the formation of the Foetus in the Womb. We find likewise in the fourth book of Diseases which has been laid with almost universal consent to the same Polybus a very Ingenious System of the causes of Diseases drawn from the four humours established by the Author which are (d) See upon this Book 3. the Pituita the Blood the Bile and the Water Galen testifies for Polybus that he never deserted the opinions of Hippocrates nor made any alteration of him any more than Thessalus but this seems not probable especially of the former if the book we have cited be truly Polybus's we see already in it some difference in the System and we find further that the opinion concerning the passage of part of the drink into the Trachaea Arteria which is as we have observed maintained in more than one place of Hippocrates's works is vigorously opposed We must not confound the sons of our Hippocrates with those of whom (e) Aristoph in Nubibus 〈◊〉 Galen quod â—nimi mores sequantur temper cor p. Cap. 4. Athâ—naeuâ— l. 3. Aristophanes Galen and Athenaeus speak so brutish and lewd that they gave occasion to the people of Athens to call all persons of that infamous Character the sons of Hippocrates These were the sons of one Hippocrates an Athenian who was himself esteemed a man of no worth There is yet another Hippocrates among the Greek Authors who wrote of Veterinary or the Physick of Beasts which are collected into one Volume or rather the Collectors have made bold with the name of the great Hippocrates and have father'd works upon him in which he had no concern CHAP. II. Prodicus Dexippus and Appollonius disciples of Hippocrates Ctesias his Kinsman HIppocrates was not contented to teach Physick only to those of his own family As he practised Physick (a) Galen affirms this and it may be gathered out of the Maxims of Hippocrates that have beeâ— cited out of a principle of humanity and not purely for profit or glory he imparted his knowledg to strangers being the first of the Asclepiades that did it so that Physick which was before confin'd within the limits of one Family was afterwards communicated to all the world and might be learn'd by any that would apply themselves to it We have seen already the Oath he exacted of his Scholars One of the most considerable of these was one Prodicus of Selymbra (b) Plin. l. 29 C. 1. who is said to have invented the use of unguents in Physick to have first anointed the body with those compositions for preservation of health and for the cure of distempers This Medicine became so common among the Antients that they proceeded even to the abuse of it especially after they had introduc'd Liquid perfumes or sweet-scented Oyls of which Virgil makes this complaint (c) Casia was a sort of Spâ—e infused in Oyl of Olives to persume it Et Casia liquidi corrumpiturnsus Olivi These being used as well for pleasure as necessity and lewd women and effeminate men making the greatest consumption of them this abuse grew so scandalous that sober persons were afraid to use them lest they should be taken to use them to the same purpose that they did For this reason 't was that the Philosopher Aristippus who found these sweet Oyls serviceable to him made such imprecations against those Debauchees that brought a scandal upon the use of perfumes But Pliny seems to confound this disciple of Hippocrates with his master The Unguentarie medicine being a branch of the Gymnastick it is without doubt the invention of (d) See Book the 2 Herodicus and not of Prodicus
reasonable to believe that he took many things out of his writings having testified as he did abundance of esteem of him We may see by what has been said before (q) See the general maxims of Hippocrates the sentiments of Plato concerning the Gymnastick Medicine We find in Galen the description of some medicines which bear Plato's name as if he had been the inventor of them but they were manifestly some other Plato's or rather the name of this Philosopher was put upon them to give them the more credit We shall close with Plato's sense of the qualities to be required in a Physician There ought to be says he in every great City good Physicians who besides the study required to learn their profession have liv'd in their youth amongst multitude of sick people and have themselves run thro all sorts of distempers being naturally infirm or Valetudinarians This maxim is directly opposite to that of Hippocrates who requires that a Physician should be of a very healthy constitution Some have observed that Plato designedly chose the Academy which was the unhealthiest place of all Athens to reside in with his scholars only because it was unhealthy out of a perswasion that the infirmity of the body render'd the mind more vigorous But we must beg leave to doubt whether this was his Motive or not CHAP. IV. Nicomachus Aristotle 's Father ARistotle's Father whose name was Nicomachus liv'd about the same time with Plato He was of Stagyre in Macedonia and Physician to King Amyntas Father of Philip. He was of the Asclepiades as well as Hippocrates and pretended to be descended from a Son of Machaon of whom we have spoken before who bore the same name with himself This Physician wrote according to Suidas six books of Physick and one of Natural Philosophy but we have nothing of them remaining CHAP. V. Aristotle WE should speak here of some Physicians who liv'd before this Philosopher and were cotemporaries to his father but after having seen what Plato who was his master contributed to the advancement of Physick we thought it convenient immediately to subjoyn what his scholar further added Aristotle wrote two books Entituled (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diogen Lacrt. in â—it Aristot of Physick but there are none of them remainning nor those the Title of which was (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Anatomy Diogenes Laertius ascribes to him another book the title of which was (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Stone this book is translated into Latin in the Theatrum Châ—micum with another which treats of the perfect Magistery that is to say of the Philosophers Stone but both these books are evidently suposititious If Aristotle had ever writ any book under the title mentioned by Diogenes Lacrtius supposing that we ought to understand by the Stone the Philosopher's Stone this book would unquestionably have made more noise amongst the Ancients whereas we find neither tract nor footstep in all the Authors extant that wrote during the space of five hundred years which were elaps'd between the Author of this pretended book and him that quotes it It is not impossible but that in the time of the later the book in question was attributed to Aristotle but it is more probable that there is some fault in the Text. We shall have occasion to speak more of this in the Chapter of Theophrastus which comes next But it was not after this manner that Aristotle imployed himself in Physick 't was in writing these other books which we first mentioned But since these books are lost we shou'd be obliged to conclude here what concerns the Physick of this Philosopher if his History of Animals and of their parts and Generation were not happily preserved wherein we find many curious things relating to the History of Animals in general and of their Anatomy in particular (d) Plin. lib. 8.16 Athen. lib. 9. cap. 23 lib. 8. cap. 11. Alexander the Great whose master he was being inquisitive into the nature and different properties of Animals obliged him to this task and furnished him for it with the summ of eight hundred Talents which amount to almost a million of Gold besides several thousand men in the several parts of Asia and Greece who had Orders to obey him and to inform him of all that hunting and fishing had taught them and to keep on purpose all sorts of Animals to discover what was peculiar to them With these helps a perfect work upon this Subject might have been expected Nevertheless the Antients themselves took notice that he advanced many a thing contrary to fact He may upon this account be excused by saying that he took them upon Credit from others not having been able to act or view every thing himself But supposing he were in some things obliged to trust to relations As for Example for certain Properties of Animals which only chance could discover there are others in which he ought to have made his enquiries himself or at least to have been present and directed those that were his Operators Of this nature are those things which relate to Anatomy what opinion can we have of his exactness in this particular when we hear him affirm that all Animals have flexible necks composed of Vertebrae except Wolves and Lyons in which tho neck consists of but one bone and that the bones of Lyons have no matrow against all experience e For his other Errours in the Anatomy of a Lyon and Eagle and a Crocodile those that are curious may consult the learned Borrichius Those that publisht the dissection of a Lyon at Paris in the Academy of Sciences some years ago have taken care to show the Errours of this Philosopher in the Anatomy of that Beast All that they observe may in fact be true except one passage in which they seem to make Aristotle say what he never thought of We find these words in one of his books f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Latin Interpreter renders thus videtur Leo Animalium omnium perfectissimum Animal in assumendo maris formam These Gentlemen explain these words as if Aristotle had meant that the Lyon has by way of Excellence and beyond all other Animals the visible and apparent marks of the perfection of his Sex These are their own words and they urge as a proof that the Philosopher was mistaken that the Vrethra of a Lyon that is the channel of the Virga does not appear outward above three inches and a half Their conclusion had been just if Aristotle had meant as they think and Borrichius with them that the Lyon of all male Animals had the parts which distinguish'd the Sex most large and apparent But this in my opinion was farthest from his thoughts for I suppose he meant no more than that the Lyon is of all male Animals the easiest to be distinguish'd from his Female by his Masculine Air or
Spirit For says he the Spirit is the cause of heat and motion so that if it becomes motionless the blood or moisture necessarily grow chill And for this reason we find the Feet be numm'd and sometimes the upper parts when they are pressed by a Chair or any other way this compression stopping or interrupting the Spirit that it cannot move as usual causes the Blood to grow cold By what has been said we may see that this Philosopher suspected the Nerves on these occasions no more than Hippocrates did and was no better acquainted with their use than his Master Aristotle We have also a Book of Theophrastus of Stones wherein he treats of several sorts of Stones as well Genuine as others of their nature the manner of their formation and the places where they are found c. And as we may see by the Catalogue of his Writings he gave to some of them the same Titles that Aristotle had done before to his perhaps the singular number was substituted for the plural in the Title of the Book of Aristotle of the Stone of which before CHAP. II. Heraclides of Pontus ALmost at the same time there liv'd another Philosopher who engag'd in Physic This was Heraclides of Pontus who studied partly under Speusippus the Scholar of Plato and partly under Aristotle This Heraclides writ a Book of the cause of Diseases and another entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What he call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is without respiration was a disease in which sometimes as our Author affirms men lay thirty days without breathing as if they were dead yet the body did not corrupt We have seen before that Empedocles cured a woman of this distemper which is a sort of suffocation of the Matrix Diogenes Laertius reckons fourteen famous men of the name of Heraclides of which two were Physicians and not counting him of whom we are speaking The first who was the eighth of the fourteen was Scholar to Hicesius a Physician of whom we shall speak hereafter the second was a famous Empirick of Tarentum whose History we shall likewise give To all these Heraclides we may add Hippocrates Father and Heraclides Erithreus of whom also hereafter CHAP VIII Diocles. 'T Is time to quit the Philosophers and return a little back to re-assume the Physicians The first of this Profession after Hippocrates and his Family that made any noise in the world was Diocles Carystius whom the Athenians for that reason called the (a) Theodor. Priscians Second Hippocrates (b) Plin. lib. 20. cap. 20. Celf. Praefat. All the Antients agree that he came presently after the Father of Physick whom he succeeded very near both in time and reputation He 's suppos'd to be Author of a Letter yet extant Addressed to Antigonus King of Asia which shews that Diocles lived in his time and not in the time (c) Tiraquell de Nobil cap. 21. and after him Wolfgangus Justus in his Chronologia Medicorum Who also holds that he lived both under Darius the Son of Hystaspes and under Antigonus tho between those two Princes there passed two entire Centuries of Darius Son of Hystaspes as two modern Authors have written But the Chronological Errors which we have detected upon the occasion of the pretended Letters of Hippocrates shew that we are not to rely much upon proofs of this nature this Letter of Diocles being no less to be suspected than the others Those that place Diocles in the time of Darius Son of Hystaspes are manifestly in an errour Others have gone on the other side too low if I be not mistaken But however it be we find in this Letter rules for preservation of health which consist in foreseeing Diseases by certain signs and preventing them by certain Remedies The Body is there divided into four parts the Head the Breast the Belly and the Bladder and there are Medicines there prescrib'd to preserve these parts from their usual Distempers He prescribed Gargarisms to purge the Head and Frictions For the Breast he advises vomiting after Meals and Fasting He ordered the Belly to be kept open not by Medicine but by proper Diet such as Blites Mercury Garlick boyled the Herb Patience Colwort Broth confections with Honey For the distempers of the Bladder he appointed some Diuretick Medicines such as the Roots of Selery and Fennel boyl'd in Wine with the water of the Decoction of Daucus Smyrnium of Elder or Chiches Diocles wrote several Books of Physick which are lost Amongst the rest was one of Diseases their Causes and Cure a fragment of which is cited by (d) De Locis affect lib. 3. c. 7. Galen concerning the Disease called the Melancholick or Flatulent Disease wherein Diocles speaks thus There is a Disease whose seat is about the Stomach which some call Melancholy others Flatus or Wind in which after eating things hard of digestion men spit abundance of very clear Spittle their Belches are sowre with Wind and heat in the Hippocondria with a rumbling motion not at first but sometime after and often violent pain in the Stomach which extend in some even to the back After the Meat is perfectly digested all ceases and returns again after eating The same symptoms sometimes take a man fasting and sometimes after Meals and force him to throw his victuals undigested up again and sometimes bitter hot phlegm or so sowre as to set their Teeth an edge These distempers for the most part come in youth but come when they will they hold a long time We may suppose they that are troubled with it have too much heat in the veins which receive the nourishment from the Stomach and that the Blood which they contain is thereby thickned For it is plain that those veins are obstructed or stopt from this sensible proof that the nourishment is not distributed thro the body but remains crude upon the stomach instead of passing into the Channels which ought to recieve it and going the greatest part of it into the lower Belly it is thrown up the next day by vomit Another proof that the heat is greater than naturally it ought is not only the heat which the parties feel but the immediate relief they find by taking cold things Diocles adds that some hold that in these distempers the orifice of the Stomach which is joined to the Guts is in flamed and that this inflamation causes the obstruction and hinders the aliments from descending in due time into the Guts and that by their stop the inflation of the Stomach the heat and other symptoms before mention'd are occasioned Diocles had a peculiar opinion of Fevers We must judge says he of things which we cannot see by those which we can see we observe that external inflamations abscesses and wounds are attended by Fevers therefore when a Fever takes any body though we cannot externally discover any abscess wound or inflamation we must however believe that there is some such thing within the body His practice